I’m very careful with my money, but everything about it is not clear as crystal. Every year around January, questions I have to ask about taxes, income, claims and reporting. Later, around September, I do my business finances and re-configure my rates (I work on the school’s calendar year). I wake up and my [...]

Beer guys shouldn’t date champagne girls.
The party was out of my league. For the champagne girl, it was likely beneath her. Even though I knew this, I still approached her and struck up a conversation. In retrospect, I should have seen the car wreck coming 100 miles away, but there is something about [...]

Last weekend I got a call from my mom. She was cleaning out her house and came across my old Atari 2600. She asked if I wanted it back. I said heck yeah and took off to retrieve it. I’d forgotten all about the thing, but the minute I saw it the memories rushed back. [...]

It never fails: You encounter new people and the first question they ask is, “So, what do you do?” Occasionally you’ll encounter people that seem to ask this question out of a genuine interest in you and your life, but most of the time you can tell that it’s their way of quickly sizing up [...]

Maybe it’s just where I live or the places I go, but I have noticed in the past several years that, no matter the situation, the level of rudeness has increased. Whether it’s a the grocery store or an athletic event, it seems that more and more people are tossing civility out the window. Some [...]

I used to think that social class was directly tied to wealth — if you were rich, you were upper class; if you were poor, you were lower class. If you were neither rich nor poor, you were middle class. Of course, even then I had a sense that because “rich” and “poor” [...]

When people think about the best financial advice they have ever received, it usually comes from a family member, a close mentor or a financial guru. So it’s with a bit of embarrassment that I must admit that the best financial advice I ever received came from a call girl I slept with in my [...]

Depending on where you live, you may see copies of Christian business directories, the most well known of which is The Shepherd’s Guide, in businesses around town. Though the stated purpose of such directories is couched in loftier terms, their basic goal is to promote businesses owned by Christians to Christian customers, encouraging people [...]

I got a letter today from a soldier in Bagdad. She’s bored. She ranted about the perpetuality of her job, and the things she “always” does, and my first instinct is to send her another package. She suggested we send her microwavable add-hot-water foods, and movies. If it wasn’t for the cost of shipping [...]

I’m not a social butterfly by any means. Never have been; it’s just not in my makeup. I have a very small circle of good friends (like maybe four) that I’ve known most of my adult life and that’s about it. The rest of the people in my circle are acquaintances that come and go [...]