Just a project I worked on a while back. These are surprisingly very good shakers.

Plus a new skin for the spring. $5.00 to the first person who can guess where the forest/stream image was taken.

Dave's going in for another surgery. He has a cavity in his body that continuously fills up with fluid. They're going to open it up and let it air out over time, and hopefully drive out the infection. This is the alternative to removing the rest of his lung(which hasn't fared very well these past months). Keep him in your prayers, he really needs it.

These past two days have been extremely eventful. With Tuesday and Wednesday being my days off and having Spring Break from classes, I took the opportunity to get a few things done. Tuesday I affected several car repairs as well as some dental repairs, and Wednesday I took the opportunity to visit my Dad.

I knew that once I purchased my car it was going to need new struts within a year. I had attempted to save up several times but it wasn't until my tax return came in did I have enough to get them fixed. I also had the problem of finding a good place to get them repaired. My dad's favorite mechanic has become unreliable as the owner had suffered several health problems. The shop I was using locally does good repair but their prices were too high. My supervisor(and good friend) at work who also lives in Lockport recommended Housel's Repair Station. At first I was skeptical but I looked into them. It turned out that their estimate for the repairs was almost $300 cheaper than my other shop. Given this I decided to take the chance. At first glance their shop is almost overlooked- they have no large sign stating who they are but upon close inspection you can see their name written on the wall. Their waiting area was typical for a small-time repair shop- somewhat dirty, chilly, and most of all empty. However there was a sign that stated that this place was voted "Best Auto Repair Shop" in Lockport for 2008. I had the feeling I came to the right place. Their work was quick and efficient- I waited only an hour for it to get done. While the car was raised up they noticed that I had a loose tie-rod. They offered to get that fixed with no extra charge for labor since the struts are in the same location. I agreed and it was all done at once. The mechanic said I could use an alignment later on and he was surprised when I told him it was only done a couple months ago at my dad's favorite mechanic. Needless to say when they did the alignment they failed to notice the loose tie-rod then. Good to know these guys spot all these things. It really is hard to find a good mechanic and I think I found one.

The dental work when much better this time around than the last time. Dr. Retell numbed me up much better and I only felt some discomfort. He filled 4 cavities on 3 teeth. Previously I had 2 cavities filled on 2 teeth and was supposed to have a third one done, but I couldn't stand it. The Novocaine wasn't strong enough so I had to quit while I was still coherent. This time around... oh man, was it better. So the plan is to finish up the top teeth and then get a crown for a root canal, and after that I'll have to get a crown for my front tooth. After all that, maybe I can spend a little on getting them whitened

Wednesday I spend most of the day with Dad. It was great- we got to talk a great deal and got a ton of plinkin' done. For those who might not know, plinkin' is the practice of shooting a .22 rifle at a bunch of targets. We had a blast with so many targets. My Dad fired a round of his high-powered .22 and blasted a pop bottle clear over the hill at the firing range. I also took the opportunity to take numerous shots at my final credit card.

With that I had the opportunity to discuss my plans to be debt-free. I never want to use a credit card again, and I never will. I've been following Dave Ramsey's plan. This guy is very smart and knows what he's talking about. He's inspired me to get off credit cards and pay only in cash and I know I can do it. I tried explaining this to my Dad and to my aunt, but they both said "you still need a credit card." I disagree, and there are thousands if not millions of people who are doing it right now. I hoped that I could inspire my Dad to do the same and at least he's open to the idea. I'm going to save up a little cash and buy him an mp3 player so he can listen to Dave Ramsey's show, as well as the audiobook lessons I picked up when I took the financial class last year.

And I'll leave you with a little scripture today. "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." - Proverbs 22:7

I will be a slave no more.

I'm currently taking entry level economics in order to satisfy a requirement in order to add History to my teaching certification. The class has its faults- lazy TAs, poor attendance-tracking methods, Captain Tangent as our professor...

But the real problem I have with this class is the professor's unabashed and unapologetic love for socialism. The professor never outright says he's a socialist, but he agrees with socialist policies. He uses this view to justify FDR's big government policies, and now Obama's policies as well.

The class has gone pretty well up until now- most of the early content I have already learned and it pretty basic for Economics. Now that we've turned to the Great Depression, the professor has begun to heap praise for "the greatest economist of the 20th Century," John Maynard Keynes. Keynesian(pronounced Canes-ian) economics is roughly described as using government(public) spending to make up for the slowdown of private spending during a depression or a recession. The idea is that the government, with its massive power, can spend money to create jobs and thus giving people the confidence in the capitalist system. FDR took this idea and ran with it as part of his "New Deal" policies, creating new entitlements like Social Security, and setting the stage for more entitlements in the future.

Despite my professor's laudatory attitude towards Keynes and FDR, he stated clearly in class that FDR's Keynesian policies didn't work- because he didn't spend fast enough. It wasn't until the government stepped up spending for World War II did the economy start picking back up again. So was it Keynesian economics that got the economy going again? I doubt it.

In an earlier discussion, our class talked about how early capitalism was helped along by reducing taxes and reducing regulations in order to give people more opportunity to spend on business. Entrepreneurs(good ones at least) want to reinvest their money back into the business so that they can grow. This is a fundamental element to understanding capitalism, and my professor agreed that it can make an economy grow. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush had each proven that lowering taxes and reducing regulation can pull the economy out of a recession with their policies as well. So, why have the government spend like crazy if reducing taxes/regulation could achieve the same effect of creating growth?

The answer is simple: If the government gets out of the way and reduces taxes and regulation, business picks up and reinvests that money back into business again, reinvigorating the economy. The average Joe American entrepreneur gets the credit for growing the economy, and ending the recession. However, if government follows Keynesian economics, and spends the money to create jobs and pushes make-work programs, government gets the credit! And with that credit comes power- people will become beholden to that power.

My economics professor stated that Keynesian economic policies were used at every recession since the Great Depression, and gave complete credit for the victory over the recession to those policies, and not the tax-lowering policies of the presidents mentioned above. I reject this claim.

So this discussion brings us to today. People are equating Obama's policies to FDR's, and believe Obama is trying to apply Keynesian policies. Despite my disagreement with Keynesian economics, I can't even say Obama is trying to follow such a doctrine. The "stimulus" package he signed doesn't do what he claims it will. Argue with me about that and I can say you didn't read the bill! In fact, no one did! Not even the people who signed it! The "stimulus" bill does not have the make-work ideas that FDR put forward, it has 8500 earmarks and pet spending projects that have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. Didn't Obama say something about no earmarks?

Suffice it to say, Obama was voted in and now we have to deal with him for two more years until we can do something about him. Let's hope the damage he's done can be mitigated or delayed. He said he was about hope and change, Well I hope he fails, or changes his path towards socialism.

PS: UCLA Economists say FDR Prolonged Great Depression

I know the question that is on your mind. It was a very difficult exam and every ounce of studying that I did was well worth it. Suffice to say, I managed to get an 88 out of 100, and the way the professor curves it, it counts as an A. In other good news, the results to my Economics class was a 94, which is also an A. Not that I'm going to rest on my laurels here... I will nonetheless take a deep sigh of relief.

The other class I am taking, as it counts as a separate class, is the physical chemistry lab. While I haven't had any exams, the writeups for the labs are very involved. I haven't gotten an scores back yet so I don't know how well I've done so far, but I hope to find out soon. It would be a shame to get 3 labs into the class and find out I've been doing something wrong the whole time.

In related news, the past few classes in my Economics course has lead me to conclude that my economics professor is a socialist. The class was going really well up until we started discussing the American economy. He lavished praise upon FDR and the idea that a large government is what's best for an economy. He often goes off topic but sometimes goes into his political views and totally agrees with Obama's "stimulus" plan. I had thought that anyone with a brain would realize that this "stimulus" package that's being crammed down everyone's throats doesn't do anything to stimulate the economy, only the government itself.

I thought that if I stayed in the sciences, I wouldn't have to deal with the political liberal/socialist bologna I hear about so often on campuses. It's something completely different to have it fed to me as part of a class.

I can now claim victory over that Chemistry exam that I've worried about these past few weeks. It was every bit as difficult as I expected, too. They say stress isn't good for you, but in truth it was the stress that pushed me to study hard for it. My stomach isn't sorted out yet but at least now I can breathe a sigh of relief for a short time.

There were a few problems that I was not totally sure about, but I think this time around I've done worlds better than the last time I took this class. It's almost a natural high to have done so well on the exam. I even managed to complete a bonus that was on the exam as well. I can't help but feel bad for my classmates though. Two of them were complaining that they didn't study and they were expecting the worst- kinda like I felt the first time I took this class. I'm surprised at myself that I took so much care to get this exam right. I've been pretty lazy(let's be honest) up until now. It's like I kicked it into 5th gear to study hard, and it paid off.

As for the stress on my stomach, I have it under control. Unfortunately my insurance requested a re-authorization before they would pay for the Protonix. I contacted my surgeon's office and they said they'll try to get it covered for me, and if that doesn't work I'll have to try an alternative. I hope it works out, but I won't know until I call the pharmacy tomorrow.

That's it for now. I'll post my grade when I get it pack. Oh yeah, I'm on a new shift, one that is far better than before and it fits my school schedule perfectly!