Parenting by Cell

I was in a doctor’s waiting room semi-patiently listening for my name to be called. On the other side of the room, a young mother was doing the same. Her children, however, were literally bouncing off the walls. 

After a few warnings to sit quietly went unheeded she dropped what appeared to be the ultimate threat to them; “Settle down or I am going to text your dad!”. It worked!

Anything for a $

The University of Iowa, nationally known as a top “party school”, has signed a multi-million dollar contract with Anheuser-Busch to guarantee its infamous standing. The contract will allow Anheuser-Busch to use the TigerHawk logo on retail displays, flags, caps, cups, and T-shirts.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAAA supports and conducts research on the impact of alcohol use on human health and well-being. (It is the largest funder of alcohol research in the world.)  Here is what the NIAAA reports about college students drinking:

Penny Lane

I found more posts on an old drive. They are from the 1st quarter of 2009.  These may be the last of the old posts as I started using Facebook around this time and posted there instead of on my homemade blog page.

A couple of notes that might help make more sense of these posts: The primary audience was my mother. She was living in Arizona and this was before she was on Facebook.  My sister Deb or Mom’s neighbors would print the posts for her to read.  

Also, note that none of the links from the original posts are active.

2009 (1ST QUARTER) BLOG ARCHIVES

02Jan2009 On New Year’s Day we went to Mike and Linda’s and had a potluck with two other couples: Mike and Carol Burdette and Sam and Judy Pugh. Chris was back from Florida and he helped make some of the food. David called us to pick him an offer we can’t refuse. So we took David to Culver’s for a grilled cheese sandwich, fries and a Coke and then to Menard’s.

New Year’s Eve we went with Mike and Linda to the Marriot Courtyard in Ankeny for dinner and a dance. The meal was great and so was the band, Flipside.

Sad news that our friend Harry Cunningham lost his battle with cancer on New Years’ Day. The funeral is next Friday.

06Jan2009 I attended the first official board meeting of Hope Village. This is a big dream to establish a large self-contained ICF/MR village in Des Moines for an adult MR/DD population. The board is made up of very impressive members. The process of defining our mission and vision statement was a case study in how to collaborate. It was respectful and purposeful discourse with a result that reflected each person’s input.

07Jan2009 On the evening of the 7th we went to a visitation in Johnston. Our friend Marilyn Paul’s father died at the nursing home. He was 93, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, blind and lost his wife (Marilyn’s mother) in the previous year so his passing was not much of a surprise. We ran into an old friend, Howard Scott at the visitation. Howard once worked at GuideOne in auto underwriting and as a marketing rep. When he left to run his agency I took over his territory (IA and MO) in 1980.

The Woz

Debbie and I went to see a presentation by Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple and the technical genius who created their very first products. It was held at a Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) campus not far from my house. The speech was a retelling of his story, how he was drawn to this new technology, and the forces that came together to create Apple. 

After the speech, he sat at a table to sign autographs. He was willing to sign anything and most had their tickets or their programs signed. He was robo-signing without looking up – not to be rude but just to move the line along.

I had on one of my vests from ScotteVest. The company name “SCOTTEVEST” is a contraction of “SCOTT’s Electronics VEST,” and the product line is used by world travelers, adventurers, undercover law enforcement, celebrities, and gadget lovers as loyal fans and customers. The company’s founder, Scott Jordan, is a friend of the Woz. The Woz did some cute YouTube ads for the company.

Now back to the robo-signing. As the Woz was signing my ticket I mentioned I was wearing my ScotteVest. He looked up with a big smile and said he meant to wear a ScotteVest shirt that day but forgot. I said I enjoyed the YouTube videos he did for the company. The Woz said he didn’t think they were that great but that he did them as a favor for his friend. I got to go behind the table to get a picture with the Woz.

Thanks for the great experience Woz!

Indentured Servants

Student loans have become a hot political issue. That is too bad because the true solution to the issue will be delayed. There are a few simple principles in play here.

• First Issue: Supply and Demand. With the massive government subsidization of higher education, it is no wonder that college tuition is out of control. This subsidy has created an increasing demand curve against a relatively fixed supply so of course the cost of tuition has outstripped inflation for many years.

• Second Issue: Return on Investment. The conventional “wisdom” that “everyone should be able to get a college degree” has left us with millions of new graduates with thousands in debt because their schools misled them into thinking that getting a job with a unique degree would be an easy path to success.

• Third Issue: Caveat Emptor. Parents are not teaching their children fiscal responsibility! Their children are targeted by predatory financial institutions for credit cards and assume debts for material things before starting a career. Without a strong sense of reality and good math skills, these children become indentured servants to these institutions for their entire life. Sadly, most parents are incapable of teaching their children about fiscal responsibility as too many families are living paycheck to paycheck and have little or no net worth.

I believe a classic market correction is in the works. Increasing competition from on-line learning venues will lower the cost of getting a higher education soon (over the next ten years). Costs will plummet as the “bricks and mortar” college experience is replaced by a predominately on-line experience. Think of it as disintermediation of the “bricks and mortar” experience. Then the predatory financial institutions (and the alcohol cartel) will need to find new ways to exploit our children.

Here is a great “rant’ by Dave Ramsey the creator of Financial Peace University on this issue. He nails it. http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/loadclip/studentloans-20120426?ictid=text