Answers to Kyle's questions

Have you listened to any new music recently? What would you recommend and why?

Besides the new Pearl Jam album (which is probably too obvious for me to recommend), I heard a story on NPR this morning about an artist named Josh Garrels. I am definitely going to be picking up his CD’s, both for the quality of his music, his honesty in asking good lyrical questions, and the fact that to date he’s given away over 150,000 downloads of his music over the years. Why? He’d rather you taste and see without wasting money. He’s sure you’ll buy more once you hear a taste. Brave, but confident.

You mentioned a post about banking before. I would love to read that post.

Too long to add into a post like this, but I’ll work on it and get it out early next year.

If you had just one piece of financial advice to give, what would it be?

Wow, there is so much I want to say here. I’ve mentioned it many times before: couples in their late twenties to early thirties should be doing financial counseling to couples in their late teens to early twenties. It probably wouldn’t sound pretty or even be traditional advice, but it would be some of the most practical, life-applicable stuff there ever was. Everyone gets advice from their parents, but non-familial advice from younger couples is much easier to swallow and easier to “hear.”

 

But back to your question… Do some kind of savings. As Americans, even the poorest Americans, we waste money. When I tried my hand at financial counseling a couple years back, it was a pleasure to watch people’s eyes light up when I showed them simple ways to save a buck here or there. The key, of course, is getting them to save those bucks and not spend them somewhere else, but baby steps, right? Loose change can equal a dollar or two a week, which becomes fifty or a hundred bucks in year. Not much, but that’s where it starts.   

What is one dish you like to cook? Explain in detail how I can make it.

I enjoy pancakes for stay-the-night guests. (Ignoring you request for detail…) don’t make it too complicated, just buy some organic mix where all you add is water (or water and an egg) and stir up a batch. Nothing like a hearty meal in the morning to show love to a houseful of guests. Sure, you can add bacon or sausage or hash browns, but in a pinch or with unexpected guests, having a box of pancake mix in the cupboard is golden. If you want a scratch recipe I can share that too, but I just use the one from the old Betty Crocker cookbook.

What's the first story you think of upon seeing the word loyalty? How about passion?

The first story??? Not sure, I guess anything with a dog in it. Passion? Either of the Samuel-Troy books have a lot of passion-driven action in them.

What book should I read next?
Dwight’s Secret of course.

Tell us a story from your childhood when you were in danger.

As a child, you rarely understand how much danger you’re actually in. Then looking back, you shake your head you made it out of childhood at all. One story comes to mind… I was back in the woods behind where I grew up, and I was scrambling across a cliff of rocks when the rocks gave out from underneath my feet. I had been holding onto some loose rocks above me with my fingertips, but that grip was slowly being lost. Before long I was sliding down towards a steep drop off which would have sent me over the edge into the strip mine lake below me. I grabbed an exposed tree root at the very last minute, which swung me around and saved me from going over the edge. The worst part is that happened way more times than I can count. LOL!!!