Market Power

Call of What?

According to my kids, when they have to go to the bathroom and go number two, they are responding to the call of doodie.  Nice.

To Have Success, You Need to Allow Yourself to FAIL

We have had our oldest boy enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do academy for the past 5 years.  We enrolled our youngest in the same academy about two years ago.  We're returning customers and just enrolled our kids for two more years, so that should tell you what we think of the academy. 

One of the things we like about the academy aside from its martial arts aspects are the life lessons the master teaches.  Yesterday's lesson in my eldest boy's class was about how to achieve success.  It was essentially a lesson in economics:  everything has a trade-off.  Everything beneficial comes with some sort of cost, and not necessarily money costs.  Sometimes the costs are in terms of time given up to do something.  Risk is also a part of the cost:  to get success in the future you have to tolerate the fact that you might fail.  Without risk, there is no success.

All he needed to do was say the term "opportunity cost" and were it not for the kihaps, self-defense moves, and white uniforms, you might have thought you were in the first meeting of Econ 101, minus the sleeping students of course.

On the way home, the kids and I were talking about poker hands, specifically about what hand generally trumps all others (the royal flush, obviously).  We got to talking about probabilities and how they determine the value of poker hands. 

During a lull, I changed the topic to the lesson.  I told my eldest that the day's lesson was really about economics, the subject which dad teaches at the university.  "Economics is about trade-offs," I said, "and the master was talking about how success comes at a price - don't be fearful of paying a price because without it there's no success."

To which my eldest, after a brief pause, replied "Dad, what's the best hand in poker?"

Can you say "professor FAIL?"

Oh well.  We economists always talk about doings things at the margin.  I guess I'll have to content myself with giving my sons lessons in economics at the margin and realize that the lessons won't always sink in, and may never sink in.  Like the master said, success comes at a price.

The Indoctrination Continues

This morning I woke up my kids with the use of my cell phone alarm which is set to play the Missouri Fight Song.  Both boys marched out of bed and to their closets to the beat of the music.

Rest Assured: Sam, The PowerCat, is Safe

Halloween can be bad luck for black cats.

Because of superstitions about the felines and witchcraft, several area pet shelters don't allow the animals to be adopted in the days leading up to Oct. 31. They fear the animals could be abused or killed by disturbed individuals.

Although reports of such incidents are rare, some shelter officials say they're taking no chances. Others, including the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha, however, say they are confident that pre-adoption background checks and counseling will weed out potential abusers.

The Cat House in Lincoln has a “blackout” policy during October and discourages black cat adoptions, said Carol Mathias, publicity coordinator and owner of four cats. Mathias said pure white cats can also be targeted.

I worry about this each Halloween, for we have a Halloween cat living here.  A living, breathing, rambunctious Halloween decoration, Sam has thankfully never been the target of ne'er-do-wells.

Happy Birthday Jared

My youngest, Jared Miller, turns 7 today.

Happy birthday, big guy

Where in the Midwest is Phil?

Here, in town to watch the Missouri/Iowa State game with the PowerKids.  We'll be braving temps right around freezing with north to northwest winds at around 15-20 MPH with gusts nearing 25-30:  typical mid-November weather in Iowa.  We'll be bundled up nicely.  I hope the outcome is better than the one two years ago. 

The First Snowfall is Always the Prettiest

Diminishing marginal utility hasn't yet set in.  Anyways, Mankato got its first snowfall of the season - 2".  Here's our front yard.

Here's our backyard from an earlier year.

Here it is today.

Lovely, no?

Before, During, and After the Destruction

I now have a lovely pile of dirt in my backyard: a new septic system that replaced a perfectly-fine system, but classified as failing by county code.  Our soil is such that there was not sufficient clearance between the top of the soil and the groundwater, so we had to replace our septic system with an 80'x40' mound system.  You can click on the pictures for larger versions.

Here's our yard in happier times.

Note the garden in front of the ravine on the right-hand side.  Birds enjoyed gathering in the little tree  on the right side of the garden.

Here's our yard Monday before the digging.

Now for the destruction.  Here's the scene Tuesday morning.

Note that the garden and the tree are both gone.  The PowerKids thought the construction equipment was pretty cool.

Here's the unfinished mound (I believe this picture was from Wednesday morning). 

The finished product today (Thursday)

The folks who installed it did a good job from what I can tell. 

My yard is obviously ripped to shreds in the areas shown in the pictures and where the various trucks and equipment puttered about.  I figure it will be a year or two until I can get my lawn back to where it was before the destruction.  I also figure I'll be challenged in keeping a couple of young boys from using the mound as their personal ski/sled slope this winter.  I'm sure it looks inviting to them, but it looks hideous to my wife, my mother, and me.

Lordy, Lordy... Look Who's 40

Today is my wife's 40th birthday.  Next year is our 20th wedding anniversary and we dated for a year before that.  She's now spent over half her life with me.  Poor thing! Happy birthday from your husband and your boys.

 

 

Happy 8th, Eldest

PowerKid, the Eldest, turns 8 today.

Back then (3 weeks old).

Today.

Happy 8th birthday, big guy.  You're halfway to your driver's license.