The Tycoons

I've been doing a fair amount of reading on the original American tycoons. Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie...I suppose those are the main ones I've read. I'd like to read about J. P. Morgan next.

I find it interesting the way that those men handled their money though. There are definitive patterns that can be found in each of these men's lives.

Here is what I've noticed:

1) They absolutely hated being in debt - And as a result, they were never in it.

2) They kept large cash reserves - to help them not only in emergency situations, but to allow them to invest heavily at a discounted rate when markets crashed.

3) They invested - All three of these men were incredibly frugal. They didn't spend their money lightheartedly. What they did do though was invest. They looked for ways to make their money grow.

4) They owned businesses - Usually multiple, or at least had stakes in multiple.

5) They worked their heinees off - All three of these men lacked any form of laziness whatsoever.

Top 10 Favorite Books

I do a lot of reading, typically burning through 2-4 books a month. Here's a list of some of my top favorites though.

1. Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
2. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
3. The Silmarillion, by JRR Tolkien
4. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
5. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
6. Journal of the Plague Year, by Daniel Defoe
7. Desperate Passage, by Ethan Rarick
8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo
9. The American Plague, by Molly Crosby
10. The Children of Hurin, by JRR Tolkien

Should Government Regulate Food Ingredients?

There have been a series of events in the news the past few years where government has reached one of its tentacles into the world of food. It's done this in the form of regulation.

The FDA banned trans fats. The mayor of NYC attempted to ban super-sized colas as well as drastically decrease the sodium in soups, rolls, cheese, and potato chips. Finland heavily regulated the addition of salt to processed foods within the past few decades.

The list could go on and on. And the question I have to ask is, is this right?

No, I don't want mercury, cancer-causing compounds, or other dangerous ingredients in my food, but regulating portion size, salt, sugar, and fat seems a little extreme to me.

Yes, high amounts of dietary sodium have been linked to hypertension. Large amounts of dietary trans fats have been linked to heart disease. But does government have the right to limit or tax the crap out of unhealthy foods?

I talked about this a good bit in THIS POST about a year or so ago, but I just finished reading Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss, and it's got me to thinking about it again.

One can draw some very interesting parallels between the fight against processed foods and the fight against the tobacco industry.

Take the 1998 case against tobacco giant Philip Morris. In that year, 40+ states within the US decided that tobacco was to blame for the crumbling health care systems within each state. The states simply couldn't pay for the sheer number of people who were becoming critically ill due to smoking-related illness.

The lawsuit claimed that Philip Morris caused the healthcare crisis. Therefore, they should pay for it.

Morris was fined $365 billion dollars.

Now that is scary.

I'm not a fan of tobacco by any means, but if government can fine a company for making a legal product that everybody wants well after the fact, who's to say that they can't do that to ice cream stands, movie theaters, breweries, vineyards, car companies, cell phone manufacturers, and on and on. Anything that is deemed potentially unhealthy is at risk.

Obesity is reaching pandemic proportions. It's taking the world by storm. And yes, I definitely agree that a shift from made-from-scratch eat-at-home meals to processed crap is a big reason. But is it the food companies fault that people are becoming fat?

A company simply responds to consumer demand. 

If customers want to purchase super fudge chocolate ice cream, the company is going to make it. And if they can make money off of it, then cool. I've got no problem with that.Yeah, I understand that food companies engineer their product to make it as delicious as possible. But don't other companies in other industries do everything they can to make their product as cool as possible as well?

But people, particularly government officials, are starting to blame food companies for causing obesity in the first place. Now I can understand the frustration here. If government is going to pay for your healthcare, then of course they're going to have a larger say in what you can and cannot do. If something is deemed "unhealthy", then they're not gonna want people to do it. They save money that way.

That's one of the problems with relying upon government for healthcare, insurance, etc. You really get screwed over. Especially if you don't have the funds to have other options out there. People don't seem to understand how big of a freedom they're willing to give up for the sake of healthier food.

People buy what they want.

Why should the company that provides a legal product be reprimanded for legally providing people what they want in a free market?

Yeah, I understand it's odd to hear this viewpoint from a personal trainer/exercise physiologist, but I also happen to be a big fan of the Constitution.

Can you ever truly expect potato chips to be healthy? If you eat them, there's really no misunderstanding going on there.You know potato chips don't build six pack abs. So why regulate the snot out of them?

Let's say government decides that people are getting too fat, and therefore food companies need to put caps on the proportion of their food that is fat (really not too far-fetched of an idea). The food companies now have their arms twisted behind their back. They may make a healthier product now, but if it tastes nasty, no one's going to buy it.

Now you've got a product that nobody likes on the market, and your sales drop as a result. When sales drop, stock drops. If you own a mutual fund, there's a good chance that you own a piece of a food company. Do you really want your retirement account to drop in value? Probably not.

If you make a healthy product that no one eats, you've done nothing. 

Take school lunches. A lot of districts have regulated that school lunches be "healthy". The end result? A repulsive menu of meals that has caused many kids to quit eating school lunches all together. Good job, guys. That one backfired didn't it?

Seriously. Ask some of the kids and parents in your neighborhood about the recent change in school lunches. I've talked with quite a few, and have yet to meet any who think the regulation was a good idea.

I don't like to complain without providing alternatives though. So what are my ideas?

1. Food companies should make a healthier alternative of a product people already indulge in. - A lot of them have done this already to still be competitive in a market that's becoming more and more health conscious. If you can decrease the amount of sodium in ice cream without changing the taste, you've made a huge decrease on the population level in the amount of sodium consumed.
2. Put mandatory P.E. classes in schools - I believe this will have a much larger effect on health than making eggplant parmesan for school kids. Typically the more physical activity you get, the better. A lot of people that end up on welfare develop a myriad of health issues due to inactivity and obesity. If you grow up in an unsafe area though, what are you to do? Where are you to play? Mandatory P.E. forces kids to be active, and will cause many of them to develop and discover an interest in various forms of exercise that they would never have found otherwise. 
3. Quit allowing food stamps to buy unhealthy foods - If you're on food stamps, why should you be allowed to purchase Snickers, ice cream, popsicles, and potato chips? If you want to regulate something, regulate this. Food stamps should be like prison. It should motivate you to get the heck out of the current situation, and to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
4. Government-operated grocery stores in low-income areas where no grocery store is within a certain radius. - Areas without access to healthy foods are known as food deserts, and are notorious for their residents living off of highly processed junk. What if we opened grocery stores like this that had to buy food products at the same price as major grocery chains. If this idea wouldn't work, what if we offered major tax-incentive to major grocery chains to build in these poorer areas?

I understand that this is a tricky issue with a few slippery slopes, but ultimately, people buy what they like. People like cellphones, but they cause car wrecks when misused. People like makeup, but it can cause car wrecks when misused. Shoot, people like cars, but they cause car wrecks when misused.

My point is, people are responsible for their own actions. Why do we keep trying to shift the blame?

Picture Updates of the Past 2 Months

Work has been incredibly busy the past 2 months. Really just life in general. Weddings. Crazy decisions. Weight loss presentations. Freelance writing. The realization that small amounts of time spent at work in the evenings quickly add to my monthly income. You know, stuff like that. 

However, I've also been able to do a lot of other cool stuff in the meantime. For starters, I finally picked up a few field guides on mushrooms (something I've ALWAYS wanted to do). I don't know why I put it off so long. I have a blast doing it. Below is what I believe to be a jelly leaf. It's edible and smells like smoked meat.

I finally got the chance to hike up a mountain I've been wanting to cross off my list. Coldest hike I've ever done. Couldn't feel my fingers the majority of the way. Snow all the way to the summit. Incredibly strong winds that could knock you over. I managed to get this picture of the peak right after dropping my trekking pole off the cliff. 

I made a workbench for outside.

I found this incredible abandoned mill while out geocaching. 

 There's baby chicks at Tractor Supply. Yellowhed said I could get one, but we didn't have space. I wanted to train it how to talk and sit on my shoulder. Sigh....someday.

Found this pretty cool waterfall in the middle of NOWHERE. I kept on hoping that my car didn't break down, because there was no way that I was getting towed out of there. 

Incredible views of a nearby farming community. 

A local 9-11 memorial left me in awe. I still remember. Many have forgotten.

Made a trip to the nation's capital, where there's apparently an underground market for fish.

The Washington Monument was breathtaking.

The Smithsonian Castle. Now THAT'S a carpenter.

While sitting atop Washington Monument's hill, I couldn't help but snap this picture. I honestly wonder about my nation's future sometime. This world is crazy, and people seem to have forgotten where we came from, as well as how valuable freedom truly is.

On a lighter note, the local jelly store had quite the assortment.

"Pass the lolli-pop jelly, please!"
*throws jelly on ground*

The local candy store is always good for a laugh.

"You know what's a good idea? Gummy chicken feet. People will love them!"

"Knock Knock. Who's there? America. SEAL ya later."

They had crickets and grubs inside suckers too. 

"Thank you for clarifying. I almost bought the small gumballs by mistake."

 I got the chance to check out this overlook of the city. Absolutely stunning.

These little flowers (grape hyacinths?) just made me happy.

Atop another incredible local mountain.

Another mountain with one of the best campsites/places to hammock in the middle of nowhere that I've found yet. I literally sat atop the crest of the mountain with views on either side of me, without a soul around. A local hidden gem.

A hidden swimming hole that is also in the middle of nowhere. I'm looking forward to visiting again when the water won't kill me.

Local farmland.

 I've been spending a fair amount of time in the library as well lately, and when I ran across these two books, I couldn't help but laugh. One of those things that you're glad somebody studies, but you kind of take for granted.

Annnd, I came across the world's most disgusting drink while perusing my local grocery store. No thank you. I'll pass.

The Tunnel

The cache description gave the idea that I'd be entering into a gigantic hollow structure. It also said that once I got to ground zero, I would automatically know where I needed to look.

So, I traversed my way down the trail, with my GPS going haywire.

"400 feet this way. No wait, 347 feet back the way I came. Now it's saying 600 feet across the river!"

There wasn't much I could do about the GPS. Some days are just like that. But I still had my hint, "You'll know ground zero when you get there."

Ok, so that should be pretty simple.

I kept on meandering down the trail when I looked off in the distance and saw this.

If you look reeeeeeelly carefully, you can see a tunnel close to the center of the picture. 

I'm thinking to myself that this is the most incredible find ever. I get closer, and this is what I see. 

I peered into the thing, waiting for a bat/hobo to hop on out, but didn't see anything. It was incredibly dark in there, so I pulled out my flashlight and climbed on in. 

Down and down the tunnel I went. It was a tight squeeze, being only about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. It was LONG too. It took me a while until I made it to the other side, but I eventually got there. 

Turns out this is a rather long drainage ditch tunnel underneath a major walking trail. I hadn't seen anything even resembling a cache inside, and came to the realization that it must not be here anymore.The hobo must've taken it. 

Somehow, I turned myself around and began the shuffle back towards civilization. 

Notified the cache owner once I was back in front of my laptop, only to get an email back in reply telling me that the cache was indeed on the other side of the river hidden inside of a hollow log, and that they really had no idea what my cryptic log was talking about, with long tunnels and all that. 

And so, I went through an old forgotten tunnel for nothing. 

You Don't Say?

80 something year old woman: "I like all types of music. Except acid rock."

I Need To Talk To The School Board

*watching "The Martian" with Yellowhed. You know, the movie about Matt Damon getting trapped on Mars?*

Yellowhed: "Wait. Did all of this actually happen?"

Me: ...

Yellowhed: "What?"

How Studying for the GRE is Going

Me: "Welp. I got a 30% on that last algebra practice test."

Yellowhed: "You're making progress!"

PT School

What am I doing?

That's the thought that repeatedly runs through my head.

I've come to the realization that I'm going to have to go back to school. It's rather ironic. Just after I finished grad school, Yellowhed told me that it was only a matter of time until I went back to get my doctorate. My mom said the same thing. A number of other people did too.

I always brushed them off. I was absolutely exhausted. I enjoyed having free time, and a normal life finally. Going home after work and being able to build a workbench, to go to the gym, to go hiking...it's awesome. Going home after work to sit in front of a computer for the next 5 hours writing a paper on gonorrhea? Not so much.

After spending months looking around for jobs online though, I've finally come to the conclusion that I am going to have to go back to school if I'm going to be able to do what I want.

Physical therapy school is going to have to happen.

I need to be able to support my family. Physical therapy allows me to do that. A doctorate allows me to teach at the college level someday, something that has always been a dream of mine.

So now, here I am looking at PT schools. Of course I missed the deadline for taking classes this coming fall by a couple of months, something I didn't realize until I met with the Admissions Chair of one of my top PT school picks.

Me: "Uh, hi. I'd like to talk with you about signing up for PT school."

Him: "Have you completed your PTCAS application yet?"

Me: [in my head] "What the heck is that?"

Me: "Ummm. No."

Him: "Well, there's really not much that I can do for you then."

Yep. That's right. I walked into PT school thinking that signing up for classes was similar to signing up to take a medical terminology class at the community college.

Sigh.

Now I know better though. A GRE, a biology class with lab, 40 hours of shadowing a physical therapy school, 3 letters of recommendation, and a personal essay are what's standing in my way now.

We'll see what happens.

My Advice for Potential College Students

I've been spending a good amount of time lately really analyzing my college experience. Now that I've completely finished, and finished up grad school too, and am stuck out in big people world looking for jobs, I have to ask myself, "Was college a good decision?"

Now, before I go any farther, I want to say that in my case I think college was a good thing. I met Yellowhed there, I grew exponentially there, I met some amazing friends, and I got the opportunity to study what I love. I honestly don't think I would have been happy knowing that I hadn't gone as well.

I look around at all of the guys that I graduated with though, and all that they've gone through, and it begins to make me wonder about the investment value of school. Every other week I end up with another intern working under my wing who has absolutely no clue what they're gonna do once they graduate.

Some of them have a general idea, I mean they know what they like to do, but they have no idea what they're going to do in their field that's gonna pay the bills.

I started off personal training, and though I absolutely loved it, it barely put bread on the table. Plus, when you add the fact that anybody can get a personal training certification any weekend of the year, you have to come to the realization that you're a bit in the hole if you went to college to be a personal trainer the rest of your life.

Anyways, the point I'm trying to get to is that if you're considering college, yes you want to study something that you enjoy. 

If you're going to spend the next 50+ years of your life working, you might as well do something you enjoy. Most kids considering college have already thought about this.

However, you also probably want to study a subject that is going to let you live where you love.

You may absolutely love what you're studying, but if your heart breaks to think of leaving your hometown, you need to make sure that what you're studying will allow you to live wherever you want.

A dentist, a doctor, a carpenter, IT guy, welder, plumber, teacher, financial advisor, accountant, lawyer, nurse, electrician, and other positions can pretty much throw a dart at a map and find a place to work. They are in high demand.

Why?

Because they're not only incredibly practical, but just about everybody needs them. Not everybody needs a kinesiologist. Not everybody needs a musician. Not everybody needs a outdoor survival expert.

There may be jobs in those fields, but if they're all up in Alaska, are you willing to relocate? That's the problem a lot of my friends have faced with exercise science. Sure, there's jobs, but odds are they're going to be 600 miles from everybody you know and love.

Choose something that gives you location flexibility.

So, let's say that you do end up finding a subject you enjoy, and it will allow you to live where you want. Are there any other factors to consider?

Absolutely. My final bit of advice to potential college students would be to study something that is going to let you live the way that you want. 

You may absolutely love playing your xylophone, and have a college degree in it, but is it going to pay the bills? I've found that a lot of college grads are surprised when the real world slaps them upside the head. They've been living with mom and dad for so long that they've never really had to pay their own way. Once they do have to, they're daunted by how much of their paycheck goes to bills.

Money is a vital part of life, like it or not. If you're going to have a family someday, odds are that you're going to want to take them on vacation. Odds are that you're going to want to help out with their education. Odds are that you're going to want to give them cool birthday gifts. You may want your wife to stay at home.

If this is the case, then you are going to need a degree that gives you a good return on investment. No, money most certainly isn't everything.

My dad always said to choose something you love, and learn to live off of that. I think that that's true, but I also think that if studying Plato is what really gets you going, then you need to have some sort of way to keep the lights on as well.

Anybody Else?

Am I the only one out there who gets self-conscious walking around Walmart with the 36 pack of toilet paper?

"Hello. I poop A LOT."

Only Amnesiacs Think Kids Are Innocent

I got the opportunity to stay with my family this past New Year's for a few days while work was closed down. While there I got the opportunity to hear a story from my little sister that had somehow remained a secret from me for years.

Apparently, one day in 4th grade, my little sister reeeeeeeelly had to use the bathroom. She asked the teacher, but the teacher said she needed to wait.

She peed her pants.

Then her classmates began to point and chant, "Pee pee head! Pee pee head!"

She cried.

Her best friend was in the class with her though, and was quick to tell my sister, "Don't worry, Wibby. You're not a pee pee head."

How to Hit 180 BPM

*me, sound asleep with the house to myself as my wife is working 3rd shift. It's late at night.*

CLAP

Me - HUH?! Something must have fallen downstairs. Sounds like it was in the kitchen.

CLAP

Me - Nope. That's not a coincidence. That sounded like it was at the base of the stairs.

CLAP CLAP CLAP

Me - Holy smokes! IT'S COMING UP THE STAIRS!

CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP

Me - SOMEONE'S OUTSIDE MY DOOR!

*grab shotgun*

I HOPE YOU LIKE THE TASTE OF LEAD, SUCKERS!!!

CLAPCLAPCLAP BOOOOM

Me - Oh wait. Those are fireworks. It's New Year's Eve. That's right. Whew.

Some kid must have grabbed a Roman candle and gone running around the apartment complex.