On a recent out-of-state software development project, the client put me up in a giant casino resort.  This was a Vegas-style resort with acres of indoor slots, poker, blackjack, craps, and all the requisite restaurants to make sure the patrons never had reason to leave.  I had a luxury suite every night, complete with wet bar, hot tub, and three television sets.

While there I saw a commercial on TV.  Coincidently, this was a casino commercial, although not a commercial for the casino I was staying at.  The commercial showed a young couple sitting on the couch watching TV.  Sitting motionless with a glazed look in their eyes, their lives obviously lacked joy and meaning.  Then a commercial for a casino came on their TV.  The commercial showed people at slot machines, energetically pulling the levers, mouths agape and eyes wide with sheer joy.  They were laughing, jumping up and down, high-fiving, and hugging each other.  Coins fell from the machines like rain from heaven.  The camera switched back to a view of the young couple, who looked at each other and shouted in unison, “We gotta go!”

Hmmm, I thought.  Do people in casinos really act like that?  Staying in a casino, I was in the perfect environment to see for myself.  I went for a walk through the game floors.  I went up and down every row, specifically looking at people’s faces and trying to judge their emotions.

What I saw were people sitting motionless with glazed looks in their eyes.  Their lives obviously lacked joy and meaning.  Unlike the commercial, these people were too lazy to pull the slot machine handle; instead they just pushed the button on the front - takes less energy that way.  Also unlike the commercial, most of these people never heard a coin drop.  They had credit-card style casino cards, so that they never had to handle any actual money.  These cards were attached to their belts with a cord.  The effect was almost Matrix-like: row upon row of individual power units, giving their energy and money to the casino through their attached umbilical cords.

Could it be that casinos don’t give joy and meaning?  Could it be that casinos take more than they give?  I’m thinking our young couple would have better luck searching for joy and meaning elsewhere.

This post originally appeared as a column in the July 25, 2007 edition of the Greenhorn Valley View.

Yeah, I picked a new template. I hope it’s not too feminine. I like some things about it: block quotes are actually set apart differently in the text, so it looks more like a quote; it is not a full-screen-width layout, which means my posts look longer than they did on the old template; the font is a little bigger; the sidebar widgets are more customizable.

Also, check out “my shared items,” on the right. These are my shared items from Google Reader. “my shared items” can be added to your favorite rss reader, in the usual way.

Hope you like it!

I’ve run into a couple sites that talk briefly about email etiquette.  See http://www.thanksno.com/ and http://five.sentenc.es/

I love email as a communication tool.  I can send email whenever it suits me, and the recipient can respond whenever it suits him.  But this main benefit also makes email easy to abuse.  I’ve known people to fire off anything they think is remotely interesting.  Even if its epic-length.  Even if its pornographic.  Even if its mind-numbingly boring.

Here’s my general rule.  If I run across something that’s interesting enough that I would call a person on the phone to tell him about what I found, then I feel free to email him.  Similarly, if you find something interesting or funny that makes you think of me, and you would call me to tell me about it if you had to, then go ahead and email it, because I’ll probably think its funny too.  But if it doesn’t pass this simple test, post it to your blog and help prevent inbox clutter.

This is my column from the July 18, 2007 edition of the Greenhorn Valley View (registration required):

To be bankrupt means to not have the ability to repay what is owed. You can work yourself into this condition slowly, or it can be thrust upon you quickly.
Business debts and medical debts can rack up quickly and leave your head spinning, without the faintest idea of a clue about how to repay. In these situations, it might be best to forget the whole thing ever happened, and seek legal discharge from your debts.

Or you could simply be living outside your means, spending slightly more each month than you bring in. Over time, this little bit of extra spending can result in maxed out credit cards, massive home equity debt, and payday loans, among other things. Obviously, you are more at fault in this case than with the business or medical case. But even then, legal discharge may be the way to go.

But how do you know if bankruptcy is the right course of action? On one hand, you made a promise to your creditors that you would repay them. This is money you have a moral, ethical, and legal obligation to repay. Imagine how your wallet would feel if you loaned someone some money and they ran off without repaying.

On the other hand, the hole you find yourself in may be too big to climb out of. Short of a rich uncle kicking the bucket in Nantucket, there may not be a way out. The debtor’s prisons of yesteryear were filled with people who were effectively serving life sentences - people without any hope of ever being able to repay.

Bankruptcy is the chance to start over again. Erase all your debts (and assets) and start fresh at ground zero. Like anything else, however, there is a cost. Bankruptcy will show up on your credit report for ten years, which means no one will want to lend you money. And if they do, you’ll pay sky high interest rates.

And if you do consider bankruptcy, don’t forget to consider what got you into that mess in the first place. Are there any bad habits you need to consider? Are you going to repeat the behavior that caused the problems, or have you changed something so that this won’t happen again? The worst thing that could happen is to get a fresh start, only start digging yourself a new hole.

In general, I don’t encourage people to consider bankruptcy. But I don’t automatically rule it out, either. By all means, repay every penny that you owe. But if you don’t have any pennies, it might be beneficial to chew the matter over with someone you trust.

Caleb made his first public response to the video game ban at our house.  Feelings seem to be a little mixed.

How much does watching TV cost?  Free?  Maybe $500 if you count the cost of the TV set?  Think about it for a minute, try to figure how much it actually costs you (as opposed to a hypothetical “average” person) then click here for a little surprise.

Vox Day has an interesting column on divorce statistics in various religious/non-religious groups:

So it is not only an exaggeration, it is statistically incorrect to assert that Christian marriages are more likely to end in divorce, because atheist marriages are more than twice as likely to fail even though atheists are less than half as likely to get married in the first place.

I’ve often heard the statistic that as many Christian marriages end in divorce as non-Christian marriages, if not more, and I always cringe.  I always think, “That can’t be right,” but I’ve never been able to find any evidence to the contrary.  (Other than anecdotal evidence, of course.   Look around your church.  How many people are divorced?)  So it’s refreshing to see a different take on the numbers.

I’m not saying its wrong to get divorced.  While it is preferable to stay married, sometimes divorce is the only reasonable option.  Nevertheless, all other options should be tried before resorting to divorce.  This is a similar concept that I discuss in my bankruptcy column, which will appear in this space tomorrow.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007320865,00.html

Um, yeah. Homer is the one who’s “very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing.”

Seriously though, this is hysterical.

Recently I posted about an ExpressJet flight from Colorado Springs to San Diego.  That post was linked to by someone on an ExpressJet forum.  (Who knew there was an entire forum just for ExpressJet employees?)  I seem to have ticked off a couple people so I think I should clarify a few things.

The most important is this: I was trying to brag about what a great deal we travelers got from ExpressJet!  At the end of the day, we made out like bandits.  I guess I sounded angry in a couple of places.  It was supposed to be funny anger, in a Dave Barry sort of way.

As a seasoned traveler I have had many experiences much worse than this one.  In fact, they seem to happen with a certain regularity.  Ordinarily I don’t find such troubles amusing, but this time we were treated extraordinarily by the airline.  And you have to admit the particular string of bad luck that befell this flight is almost comical: the pilot goes home, the meal vouchers are useless, the XM Radio doesn’t work.  It’s as if the planets aligned in a once-in-a-million-year event to bring comic catastrophe on one particular flight.

So everybody repeat after me, “Relaaaaaaaax.  Take it eeeeeeaaaaasy.”

Here’s my latest column.

Looking for a way to spend less money? Think there must be a way to wrangle what you need out of life without spending a king’s ransom? During this past month of not spending any money, I read a great book by Steve and Annette Economides (yes, that’s their real name) called America’s Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money. Their book is packed with insight for living well without breaking the bank. But they don’t just give you a few tips and tricks; they give you a whole different way of thinking about money. Rather than viewing money as a drug, with all its addictive qualities, they teach you to view money more like a mechanic views his wrenches. A mechanic needs his wrenches to complete the job, but he doesn’t need an ever-increasing supply of them to keep getting ahead. They got ahead on the income they had, not the income they hoped to have tomorrow.

The Economides also publish a monthly newsletter (available at http://www.homeeconomiser.com/), that has more of the ideas spelled out in the book, but in a smaller newsletter format.

Among their great ideas are ways to build up an emergency fund, how to pay cash for cars, and creative ways to pay off your debt quickly. And they have the best solution to the age old question of whether or not to give children allowances. They don’t just hand out money for nothing, but they also don’t tie money to basic household chores that should be done by all family members anyway. You’ll have to read it if you want to know more.

You also don’t have to spend a lot of money for the book. I’m so cheap resourceful I borrowed the book from the library. In fact, that might be a column for another day. The library is a fantastic resource for all kinds of information. I don’t even own most of the money books I read; they come straight from the library.

I had a wild ride to San Diego last night. It was a non-stop flight on ExpressJet airlines (www.xjet.com ) from Colorado Springs to San Diego, departing 6:00 PM Mountain, arriving 7:15 PM Pacific. When the plane that was supposed to take us to San Diego arrived at Colorado Springs, all the people got off, and the pilot went home. THE PILOT WENT HOME! Apparently he thought he was done for the day. So the airline scrambled to find us a new pilot, but ended up grabbing a pilot from a different airline. But the new pilot wouldn’t arrive in Colorado Springs until 7:40 Mountain, an hour and forty minutes after we were supposed to have left!

But they made it up to us. Everybody on that flight got a $100 travel voucher and a $10 meal voucher. We took our meal vouchers to the restaurants in the airport, but they were all closed! There are so few flights on Sunday evening out of Colorado Springs that most of the retailers close shop early. The only thing open was a coffee shop, so I used my voucher for a bottle of water, a bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino, and a lemon poppyseed muffin (it took the whole $10, too).

Finally we get on the plane, and the plane takes off about 8:30. One of the big attractions of ExpressJet is the free XM Radio in every seat. I plugged in my headphones, but no sound! The attendant comes on the loudspeaker and tells us the XM is broken on this plane! To make up for it, they gave us all free drinks. (I only had one bottle of wine, thinking it unwise to show up smashed when my co-workers meet me at the airport. Certain others of my my flying companions felt no such inhibitions.)

So I ask you, What is the meaning of this!?!?!?! Our flight arrived two hours late (TWO HOURS!) and all we got was $100, a bottle of water, a frappuccino, a muffin, and a bottle of wine.

UPDATE: I’ve posted more on this.

With every generation of children comes the hope for a better world - but only through the provision of education for all.  The millions of children who never see the inside of a school are a loss to all humanity.
- Charlie MacCormack, President and CEO of Save the Children

I can agree that education provides the hope for a better world.  I can agree that education for all is a noble goal.  I cannot agree that a child must see the inside of a school to be educated.  In fact, I might go so far as to say that a child who only receives education from a school (as popularly defined), is not really educated at all.  Mr. MacCormack’s error is equating education with school.

Our boys did a little shootin’ at a friend’s house the other night. Here’s their haul. Click the photo for a bigger picture.

Here’s a very interesting comment from a long-time Prosper lender.  He has some very surprising things to say about gambling, debt, and Prosper, considering he’s doing pretty well as a lender on Prosper.

Personally, I know the addictive quality of gambling and I don’t doubt his story one bit.  If you’re investing on Prosper, keep a sharp eye out for signs of gambling debts.

My column from this week’s Greenhorn Valley View:

So the thing about debt is, it presupposes on the future.  Let me illustrate.  You want a new computer.  In fact, you need a new computer.  Your old computer was created before the dinosaurs and has about as much memory as one.  So you start looking around and find the latest screaming fast machine that will have people drooling for blocks around.  The only problem is - gulp - it costs way more than you have on hand.

Not to worry!  It can be yours for only $55 a month!  Why, you could find that much between your couch cushions!  What can be a little harder to discover, however, is that you’ll be paying only $55 a month for four years.  If you do the math, you’ll discover that you’re going to end up paying a lot more for that computer than if you had just bought it outright.

But the interest on that debt isn’t my point today.  My point today is that you do not know what the future holds.  Sure you have the $55 right now, but will you next month?  How do you know?  Will you be able to make the payment one year from now?  How do you know?  What if you lost your job?  How soon could you find a new one?  Would it pay as much as your old one?  What if you or someone in your family suffered a major injury?  Where would you get the money to cover it?  Would you end up defaulting on the computer loan?

Here’s another idea.  Instead of buying the computer now and paying for it for the next four years, why not pay yourself the $55 a month?  That way you could pay cash for the computer, not have to pay any interest, gain the interest the money makes sitting in your savings account, get an even better computer (because you’ve waited awhile to make the purchase), and the best part is, if you suffer a job loss or medical emergency, you just stop paying yourself for the computer, and all the money you’ve saved is available for the emergency.  Not to mention the very real, but intangible, benefit of peace of mind that comes from not being enslaved to anyone through your debt.

Give the debt free life a whirl.  You’ll find the benefits well worth the wait.