ROE INTENSE

The telephone rang. I knew whether or not they could hear me was going to be a crapshoot. The coverage at my location was just a small hair above poor. But who knows? Those small engine shops’ phones might always sound like the other guy is cutting in and out. “Yello.” “Yeah, hi, do you folks buy for parts?” I said. “Mmm hmm,” the man responded. “What have you got?” I explained the make and model of my little-engined device. He said they would take a look so I changed directions and headed their way. Weston was asleep in his car seat, or at least incredibly adorable. I got the machine out first after I parked, then grabbed out his car seat. We went inside. The attendant was engaged in a conversation about how chainsaw chains last much longer if properly maintained than salesman try to tell you they do. You can sharpen them a number of times. Don’t let them talk you into a new chain. Etc. How the sharpening was $18, $19 and change with the governor ripping you off. Then it was a conver...

September 9, 2016 Dear Mr. Gardner, Thank you for contacting me about federal gun legislation. It is good to hear from you and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.              As you know, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution affirms that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Our Founders rightly understood that government is not the source or author of rights, but that God gives us rights by nature. In order to secure those rights, “we the people” institute government. As a father and a husband, I have a natural right to defend my family and my property that pre-dates government, and I am a robust defender of our Second Amendment because it is a mechanism that the people use to retain and defend their God-given rights. When I was sworn in as a U.S. Senator, I took an oath that I would faithfully uphold all of the Constitution, including the Second Amendment. On June 12, 2016, a ...

The last thing I recorded for posterity was my attempt at humor on customers’ doorsteps . That was on July 7th. One month and 20 days later, it’s time to talk about something else. But first, a bit about money. Freeing yourself from the slavery of consumer, personal and other debt is the longest and hardest baby step for us. It’s also the second step in Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, not the first. The first is to put away $1,000 for emergencies because life happens. But what if BIG life happens? Health problems, car trouble, ailing loved ones, and yes, childbirth. Those usually cost way more than $1,000. Your money in this situation is your ally. When storm clouds arise, you need to stop your Total Money Makeover and just hoard cash until the storm passes. Then, you dump whatever wasn’t spent on the emergency back into your Debt Snowball and keep rolling. Right now, let’s say you’re hoarding money. It’s just piling up. You’re getting ready for the storm, so that’s good. Bu...

I decided a few weeks ago to try and lighten things up with customers. I therefor exercised a little Vision. Capital-‘V’ vision involves imagination. What does RI look like as a rockstar pizza delivery guy? Images come fast every time I ask myself. Rockstar-pizza-guy RI is fast. He runs to and from deliveries. He looks like this guy, Lukas Parker, but with a pizza shirt on.     The most reasonable vision I have of myself during these exercises in imagination is humor. My rockstar-self cracks jokes at the door that make people laugh and tips grow. I have no natural proclivity to humor. I find it easy to laugh, but being humorous takes a spot of effort. But what is vision without a goal and some work? I decided on that day a few weeks ago that, sans orange hammer and copious amounts of body hair, I would try to be funny. I drove down the road to my second delivery of that day began to plan. What jokes could I say? I would have maybe 10 seconds. Interactions are fast. I’...

Originally published by the DaveRamsey.com Blog.   Lily graduated from a four-year university with a degree in business—and $35,000 in school loans . She didn’t have any savings, so she used her credit card to pay the deposit on her new apartment. And she swiped it a few more times to buy some nice furniture and appliances. A few months later, she decided it was time to upgrade to a new car, now that she was an adult in "the real world." But then the bills began rolling in. The grace period on her student loans ended. The 90 days "same as cash" promise from the furniture store came and went. Suddenly, at 23 years old, Lily realized she was more than $60,000 in debt. Something had to change, or else she was going to drown. It was time to buckle down and dump her debt once and for all. Maybe you can relate to Lily’s story. Maybe you’re a recent college graduate, a single parent, or quickly approaching retirement. No matter your life stage, paying off your consumer d...

A word to the customer that inspired this post: Thank you so much for letting me take pictures of Brutus. I have included his pictures as promised. They will be found toward the end of this post. DogsBite.org reports that canines killed 360 Americans in the 11 years between 2005 and 2015. ( Sources .) In 2015 alone, 34 dog bit-related fatalities were reported. 41% of those were children. Getting attacked by a dog is serious. If the dog is large enough and angry enough, they can kill you. Being prepared can save you from injury and even death. So how do you prepare yourself? It’s simple. Let’s start the first point with a hypothetical: There you are, minding your delivery. You step out of your car with your delicious cargo and walk up to the fence. The ground is bare right up against the chain-link. There are holes dug in the yard. There’s a human appendage sticking out of a mound of dirt near the porch. You assume they have children and continue forward. Business as usual. You mov...

Stairwells are misnamed. Or at least misunderstood. I learned this Wednesday. “It has been crazy in here, RI,” Leff-tenant said. I stood near the check-in computer. Someone was manning a prep table. One of the cooks was talking with an underling. The dishes were done in the back. Even the man in charge of prep was enjoying a snack. It did not look crazy in the least bit. Leff-tenant saw the skepticism in my face. “It doesn’t seem like it now, but we pushed out 150 pizzas in the first 2 hours of the day,” she said. School lunches. Zoo trips. It’s not uncommon. She was right by receipt accounts. We were close to Friday levels already by the time I came in. It felt like the calm before a pizza storm. With cheese flying around everywhere and desperate teenagers trying to catch it. And I mean desperate .   Skills USA was in town again. Hundreds and hundreds of teens from across the state were gathered at the DoubleTree on 16th and Dodge. They had all just arrived. They were hung...