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Reader Story: I'm Done with Debt
Published on - May 2nd, 2010 (Modified on - May 17th, 2010) (by J.D. Roth)
This guest post from Andrew J. is part of the "reader stories" feature here at Get Rich Slowly. Some reader stories contain general "how I did X" advice, and others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity, and with all sorts of incomes.
I am writing this for two reasons:
- First, GRS is like a big toolbox that I just discovered, already full of all the tools I need to build a strong, long-lasting financial future for myself, and
- Second, as a letter to myself, to remind me of where I am, at this point in my life, and why it's worth working so hard to not be here again.
Let me start by giving you my history.
In the beginning…
After high school, I lived at home with my family while I attended one of the area community colleges to complete my Associate of Arts Degree. I took a part-time job designing and maintaining a website for a local real estate company. I had no real reason to save any money at the time because my financial obligations were, well, none. At least until tax time came…
I was being paid as an independent contractor so no taxes were being taken out of my check, and when taxes came due, I owed almost $2,000. I took another job at a casino in town so I could save up the money needed to pay off the debt, and ended up liking where I was, so I stayed. Still, I didn't save any money. If I wanted something, I'd save just enough for it, then spend it all. I had a nice truck that cost me $550 per month plus gas (it took premium and got 12 mpg!!) and didn't think much of it.
I got a promotion at work two years after I started, got a decent pay increase, and decided it was time to make an investment. I got together with two friends (they were a couple I had known for several years), and we started looking at houses. This was in 2004 when the market was booming in California.
We got our finances approved and bought a nice four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house in a quiet cul-de-sac in a small town. The loan we got was an interest-only loan, and even though we knew the drawbacks of this kind of loan, we told ourselves that we were only going to hold onto it for a couple years, then get rid of it.
Well, within a couple of weeks of closing, the couple broke up and she moved out, signing the house over to us and walking away. Now we had to find roommates so we could afford the house. Within the first year, the other owner decided he didn't want to be there anymore either and sold me his share of the house. He took off, and I had roommates for a while until I met a girl.
Up until that point, I had credit cards but never held a balance on them. We started traveling, going out to dinner often, and next thing you know, she moved in and the roommates moved out.
Now this was about the time the economy started to tank. My debt had grown to over $20,000, and I couldn't even afford to pay the minimum payments on my credit cards. We put the house on the market but didn't get one offer. Then our relationship ended and she took off after cleaning out our bank account. I was left in a house with a $2,000 monthly mortgage without property taxes and insurance and decided that foreclosure was the way to go. I stopped making payments on the house and started to concentrate on the credit cards. After a few months of paying toward the credit cards, I decided to declare bankruptcy and write everything off.
In November of 2009, everything was discharged and I was now debt free. I knew this was the perfect time for me to start saving. I moved back in with my parents so I could save as much as possible but then I had to have surgery on my ankle. I had insurance, but they didn't cover all of it. I got over that, but just when I started to save up a little bit, the temptations of my friends got the better of me. I ended up going with a group of friends to Germany and Switzerland for New Years. I had a great time and am happy I went, but it wasn't good timing. The good news is that, unlike everybody else in my group, I paid cash for the whole thing; when I got home, I wasn't paying off the trip for several months like some of the people I went with.
I got to the point where I could start saving again. But when I filed my taxes, I realized I never changed my W4 form through work the previous year and still had my paycheck adjusted for being able to write off the interest on the house. This year I owed over $3,000. Again, I had no money in the bank. I was able to pay off the state but had to set up a payment plan for the federal return.
It was about this time I started reading the different articles at Get Rich Slowly. I started to realize that I make enough money to save rather quickly; I just really suck at budgeting.
So, I put together a plan on how to get out of debt, giving myself a weekly allowance, and paying off my current debt very quickly. I've accumulated a handful more bills from my surgery, but after putting together a plan (on paper), I can see that it is very possible to have it all taken care of in three months, while saving at the same time! More then anything, Get Rich Slowly has shown me that it is possible, and to look at the Big Picture and plan for the future. Just mapping out my budget lets me know exactly when I can pay something off so I can be honest with whoever is billing me.
I know it won't be easy at first. I've gotten used to spending a lot, and just running out and buying something if I want it. I've accumulated some nice things over the years, and now I've told myself to enjoy them. I was able to pick up a friend's old truck that runs well for only $700. I also have a motorcycle I picked up a few years back, when I didn't have a vehicle, so I could use it as cheap transportation. It works great and is very, very cheap to maintain and operate. My degree was in photography and I plan to get up and take more pictures.
All of these things can be done for next to nothing, which will allow me to not only save quickly, but also not sacrifice living at the same time. I want to go back to school and get my bachelors degree, and I don't want any type of student loans to do it. Debt has run my life for the past ten years almost and I'm done with it. I know at first it's going to be hard to tell my friends that I can't join them every trip or get together once a week for a cigar but, just like me, they'll get used to it.
I mapped out the rest of this year, being as accurate as I could, not taking into account any extra money that might come in, and have set a goal of having $10,000 in savings by the end of the year. I contribute to a 401(k) through work, and put in twice what they match just to build it up. I also have a Roth IRA I started a long time ago, but haven't touched in almost seven years. It's time I started making that money work for me.
I also have a gym membership and intend to keep it. Toward the end of my relationship, I got pretty unhealthy, and am now on a path to correcting that. I have a great friend that has pushed me to my limits in an effort for me to improve myself, and I am extremely grateful for him. I've noticed in the past few months since going to the gym that my self confidence has grown, and I just plain feel better about myself and also in the decisions I make.
In the future, the hardest part of all of this is going to be avoiding the temptations and reminding myself that it's all worth it. Once I establish a routine and get set in it, it'll be much easier for me. Without Get Rich Slowly to remind me it's possible and to help push me in the right direction, I don't know if I would have taken the first steps to get started. And for that, I say thank you.
Reminder: This is a story from one of your fellow readers. Please be nice. After nearly a decade of blogging, I have a thick skin, but it can be scary to put your story out in public for the first time. Remember that this guest author isn't a professional writer, and is just learning about money like you are.
This article is about Choices, Debt, Reader Stories, Real-Life
Thanks for sharing your story, Andrew. I will have to share this with my brother, who is graduating college this year. I could see him having the same story to tell if he doesn't change his habits. He has a hard time saying "no" to friends and although he generally pays cash, he doesn't save anything. From your story, it sounds like you used to have the same habits he has. The thing is, my brother doesn't seem to care. Maybe this will inspire him.
Right on Andrew! Sounds like you are on a path that works for you and will be both monetarily and physically beneficial to you. Thanks for sharing your story.
Thanks for sharing this Andrew. Sounds like you have learned some hard lessons but you are young and have a lot of years to get things back on track.
Hope you can continue to stay focused and things continue to improve in your financial future.
Good for you Andrew! Taking care of your financial and physical selves will build success upon success, as each step that you take toward either goal will remind you that your future is worth fighting for!
I'm sorry, but it sickens me to read of people like this writer who simply discharge their debt with bankruptcy and then continue on the same path once again with no remorse for those they've screwed over. People who get themselves into this predicament shouldn't be able to simply walk away as this writer did and consider themselves "debt free". Thank goodness the government (IRS) and student loans aren't bankruptable. At least people can't completely scam the system. Bankruptcy is an option for thiefs and cowards.
good to read this inspirational article, Andrew!!
Great story. The important thing is you have learned from this and are taking the right steps to have a great life. Sounds like you have a good plan going for you. Keep up the good work.
Part of your debt was the result of stupid mistakes, but another significant part was the result of taxes. What a shame that government robbery is what held you down for a long time.
Its hard to have respect for somebody who really just gave up and cried uncle (filed bankruptcy).
What has this guy really accomplished, other than giving up and starting over?
I am not really impressed.
Show me someone who has actually worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve something. Then I will listen.
I missed the part about bankruptcy the first time I read this story, but the second time around I caught it. Why didn't you get roommates or a second job? Cut back on stuff. Sell stuff in the house you didn't need/use? I really don't see how your going to turn a new leaf. You got cleared of your debts, seems like to me you will do this again. I don't like the path you travelled. But you made your decision, best of luck.
I would not say so as harshly as Mark, but I also think that the writer took the easy way out and it makes me angry because I (as a taxpayer and credit card user) get left paying for his choice. He says that he has the income but just isn't good at budgeting – well maybe he should consider paying back his debt with his income, after all, HE is the one who consumed all those dinners, lived in that house, bought that whatever – why shouldn't he pay for those things now?
Those of you "sickened" by bankruptcy have bought so heavily into the dogma that credit card companies push. As a bankruptcy attorney I regularly counsel clients to begin reading this site, and to research other resources like mint.com. What you need to know about bankruptcy is that there is a portion of the law that creates an income measurement called the 'means test.' It determines if you raise the presumption that filing a bankruptcy is abusive to your creditors (a.k.a. unfair). In the law, a presumption shifts to the other party when you rebut it. Accordingly, if you do not raise the presumption of abuse, then it is presumed that the creditors were abusive in extending the credit in the first place. Think about it, they are in the best position to make credit-worthiness decisions every day. They know the risks and have full benefit of access to a minimum of 9 types of credit reports including personality profiling.
Finally, the requirement that there be a bankruptcy code in this country is written specifically into the constitution in Article 1 Section 8: "To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;" That's right. Our founding fathers might have known a thing or two about the oppressiveness and permanence of debt as a prison considering they fought a revolution over the subject of money and how freedom is related to it. Please begin to think for yourself rather than buying the dogma of corporations…
This writer has inspired me!! I am $11,000 in debt but instead of paying it back I am going to file for bankruptcy. That way I will be able to save $10,000 this year, with enough leftover to pay for a gym membership.
I'm sorry but that wasn't very inspiring at all.
I concur with Mark, Dee and Elliot.
"Please begin to think for yourself rather than buying the dogma of corporations…"
You, of course, make the false assumption that people who disagree with bankruptcy align themselves with corporations. We align ourselves with integrity: if we are responsible enough to borrow money, we are responsible enough to pay back what we owe. That is not corporate thinking, but understanding and accepting responsibility.
If I read the story correctly, the writer ran up his credit card, then filed for bankruptcy (chapter 7, I'm assuming?) That's just being irresponsible, and hence the resentment from a lot of readers who have done the same thing and paid theirs down. Had this been for say medical bills, that's more what the Founding Fathers undoubtedly had in mind by inserting a bankruptcy provision into the Constitution (before they added the Bill of Rights even) because they wanted Americans to have an alternative to debtors' prisons and a lifetime of debt.
Naturally an attorney specializing in bankruptcy would be pro bankruptcy, but shame on you, because credit card weren't even invented back then, and I'm sure we can all agree, certainly not what the Founding Fathers meant, and for someone to run up their credit cards, then file for bankruptcy, well is irresponsible. Heck, I have a $20,000 credit card limit — I could do that today. But having said all of that, I really do think it's great that the writer of the article turned his finacial life around and has become responsible.
I'm sorry Kyle but I'm not buying what you're selling , "Accordingly, if you do not raise the presumption of abuse, then it is presumed that the creditors were abusive in extending the credit in the first place. Think about it, they are in the best position to make credit-worthiness decisions every day. They know the risks and have full benefit of access to a minimum of 9 types of credit reports including personality profiling."
Creditors abusive? In my 52 years of walking this earth not once has a creditor pulled me off the street or out of my house and demanded that I use their credit card or else.
The choice to use that credit card is mine and mine alone. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
19I can't say I didn't see this line of comments coming. Admit past mistakes and a bunch of self-righteous but uninvolved and unaffected 3rd parties chime in to declare you morally reprehensible. GRS Comments: where working within the law to settle debts in a centuries-old, established, and legal manner makes you an irredeemable failure of a person. Meanwhile, the actual creditors involved have long since forgotten about it and hold no ill will (being that they're generally not actual people anyway, it'd probably be impossible for them to hold ill will).
No one's going to want to share any stories at all where they admit any sort of past failing if this is the sort of response we always see. My brother has a DUI on his record. I imagine there's some stories he could share about the lessons he learned from that (financial or otherwise), but I doubt he'd feel comfortable sharing those stories in this crowd.
Don't think "government robbery" helped hold you down. There actually is a worksheet to estimate your tax situation AND you can take some time and review it during the year and make any changes necessary.
"No one's going to want to share any stories at all where they admit any sort of past failing if this is the sort of response we always see."
Heck, even stories of past success get flamed here. And Tyler, you haven't always been nice, either (though, to be fair, I've written my share of negative comments too; I stopped after my post ran here and got 150+ negative comments.)
It falls on the author to deal with this with a thick skin and to not let the haters get to him/her. Which is unfortunate. But at least the haters hate pretty much everyone who runs a story here–rich or poor; mistakes or no.
The first thing I noticed about Andrew's story was that he declared bankruptcy and then went off on vacation to Europe. Wow! Sounds little like these recent bank bail outs, but in a very small scale. You create a financial disaster, get "bailed out" and then go on a vacation to celebrate your freedom while you leave your debtors holding the bag. Hmmm…somehow that does not sit comfortably with me. But as a fellow recovering "debt-addict" I have to add that I'm pleased to read that Andrew is on the way to recovery. Little more humility about your past might be a good thing. Your story is a hard read for those of us who spent years and years paying off our debt the old fashioned of actually paying it off. But then none of us are perfect and we make the best choices we know how at the time. Good luck in your future recovery!
People seem to be in a bad mood today! How did Andrew "rob the government" if he settled his tax bills and followed their payment plan? People do it all the time. Yes, he could have paid in advance, but if it were "robbery" he would be in jail.
Also, for people raging about bankruptcy, an overwhelming portion of people while file have outstanding medical bills, but a bill is a bill.
Americans seem to believe that you only deserve to be healed if you can pay for it, so why would you be ok with people claiming bankruptcy for that and not for credit cards? Maybe focus instead on offering suggestions for Andrew on how to stay on the right path, or how to be responsible as you put it?
People learn little from negativity.
My suggestion for Andrew would be to put the extra money you are paying towards your 401K into your ROTH until you max that out instead. You have more investment options in a ROTH and since you've paid the taxes upfront, no worries later. Good Luck!
I just want to be clear that I wasn't hating on Tyler or the choices he made. What's done is done and the only thing one can do is move forward and hopefully not make the same mistakes again. And hopefully by telling his story helping someone else to make better choices.
What I am "hating" on, and I'm not sure that is the right word, is for people to excuse those poor choices by saying it was someone else's fault aka the credit card companies.
I admit I can be critical, Erica — I remember being critical of your article specifically (I too think I've toned this down recently). There's a difference though between, "I see problems in your reasoning" or "your point seems unsupported" which is what I try to do (maybe I'm not always successful) and "You lack integrity and responsibility as a person. You are a thief and a coward." which is what we're seeing today (and not the sort of thing I can ever remember writing).
Criticism can sting even when it's ultimately helpful. Personal attacks and moral judgements of past actions rarely make anything better for anyone.
Also, I think J.D.'s right: In general, this site has some of the best commenters on the internet. Compare to youtube for contrast.
However, on days like today, I wonder if that's not so much because of the community, but because of the de facto rules that the community has to abide by. Discussion of politics and religion are effectively verboten, which I'm sure keeps out a lot of vitriol. The math beyond the actual financial aspect of the site is generally simple and not really up for debate, it's either correct or it isn't.
We operate in a bit of a walled garden here where we pretend a lot of the things in the world that cause arguments don't exist. Hence no mentions of "Obamacare" or Islamic extremists or the tea party. When people venture outside the walled garden and bring in a bit of unpleasantness from the real world, like bankruptcy, people start throwing around derogatory judgements of guest posters.
This comment's not meant to convince anyone of anything, it's just an expression of some of the thoughts I was having while reading other comments on today's article.
As I mentioned before, I regularly recommend this site to clients as a way of learning financial responsibility subsequent to filing a bankruptcy. Given the apparent predisposition and lack of compassion towards individuals who may have found themselves in situations beyond their own control, I am second guessing that recommendation. I would hope that the majority of individuals who read this site do so to educate themselves and others about how to heal the mistakes we have made and to avoid them in the future. Sadly, I fear this may not entirely be the case. After years of practice, I guess I was mistaken in believing lawyers to have a heavier dose of cynicism than the average person. In bankruptcy we talk about compassion burnout. Maybe that is something that should be discussed here too.
29A little more to the story…
I would like to say, in my defense, that it wasn't like I ran out and charged everything under the sun just so I could "right it off" in the future. My girlfriend at the time had her hours cut at work, then she got sick and had to quit. 80% of the debt we had was for our day to day item; gas, food, etc. We paid all the bills with the cash I was making. The plan at the time was when the house sold, we would be able to take the little money we made and pay off what we had to charge to survive. Obviously, that plan didn't work. When she took off, my mistake of charging items really bit me as she had no debt, cleaned out the house of anything that had been charged, and went on her way. We weren't married so there wasn't too much for me to do. I paid for everything and it bit me big time. One of the many mistakes.
If I would have come across this resource (GRS) quicker, I would like to think I would have made my plan then to pay everything off over time with a snowball. When I declared bankruptcy, I was a bitter and just plain mad as the situation I was in (stuck in debt with nothing).
This letter was more about me finding this website, being able to learn from my mistakes and be able to move forward knowing I will not do this again.For the comments on what I have accomplished, my accomplishments are still to come. All I have done is wake up and take the first step. Something most everyone here has had to do.
As for be called a thief and a coward, I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. I never deliberately "screwed people over" but I know that others have paid for my mistakes. I might not have any debt but the stigma of a bankruptcy on my credit for the next 7 to 10 years hardly makes it free. I will be paying for this for a long time…
I think what's interesting about this post is that the writer is at the very beginning of his financial turnaround. There are so many vastly successful contributors to Get Rich Slowly, but here is someone who is just starting to make the realizations that many of us take for granted these days. It's a helpful reminder of the humble beginnings that caused many of us to start reading this site to begin with. I find myself wondering if that's why JD chose this story to publish.
I'd be interested to hear from Andrew again in two years. I'd like to hear if he took advantage of the opportunity to start over or if it turns out that he can talk the talk but cannot walk the walk.
emma (#17): "Whatever happened to personal responsibility?"
Isn't this a story about someone TAKING personal responsibility? I thought most GRS readers were in situations similar to the original poster: we are or have been in serious debt, we need help budgeting, we're not sitting around with silver spoons in our mouths. We're reading this to learn how to improve our situation, not to gloat about how morally superior we are to folks who've made mistakes.
And yes, he made stupid mistakes. He admits as much. So did JD, but we read his site. So did I, but I'm working on my debt just like anyone. It's why I'm here.
If we didn't have access to bankruptcy, we'd still have debtor's prisons. Is this what the critical readers would prefer? Lock him up and throw away the key because he bought some real estate when he was 20? Come on.
Thanks for sharing your story, Andrew. Don't let the turkeys get you down.
J.D.: "I don't agree with you. I don't think GRS commenters are haters. In general, they're awesome, supportive people."
They're only awesome and supportive if you follow expected societal norms. When your wife wrote about feeling guilty for hiring a housekeeper, the comments were generally supportive. That's because feeling guilty for hiring help is an expected cultural norm in America. (Travel to Africa or Asia and it's not normal at all to feel guilty. In fact, it's expected that you will hire help when you're doing well to help better the community and support local jobs–completely the opposite of here.)
It's when you don't follow expected norms that the commenters turn hateful. And J.D., I don't know if you just have a thick skin or if you're willfully not seeing it, but the personal attacks here are NASTY. And they show up consistently–to Andrew for declaring bankruptcy and to many others who have posted their stories here as well.
As to what to do about it? I don't know. For some reason, this site attracts people of certain viewpoints, and when someone writes a story that doesn't fit their view, the comments get nasty. I can tell you that it discourages a lot of people from sharing stories.
Andrew has done a heck of a lot more than 99% of the people who declare bankruptcy. (My dad, an attorney, will be able to tell you lots of grand stories of people who think nothing of "waiting out their 7 years" and filing repeatedly.) Yet the commenters here tend to myopically focus on a single detail instead of applauding him for at least taking steps to remedy the situation.
We've grown up in a culture where consumerism is put on a pedestal, and where borrowing beyond your means is encouraged and even considered a sign of wealth. And this is the result: Most people in our culture think of nothing but a monthly payment. People finance consumer devices like big-screen TVs and iPads. And then many of them, like Andrew, declare bankruptcy.
But I don't have any hard feelings for Andrew. He's the product of our culture. You can't change Andrew's past by being vitriolic about it. All you can hope to change is the future generation, and Andrew's future.
This site helps a lot of people, but the comments don't.
Good luck. I know you can't feel good about the past mistakes, but you can feel really good knowing you've found good tools and hopefully good support in making the right choices going forward. Sure, you had some fun with a life of debt, but you realized it's not a long term plan. Now you can make better use of your money by using it efficiently rather than wastefully, and you can be prepared for your future, whether it's family, travel or retirement. Stick with it!
I am thinking that some of the nasty comments today may be due to frustration in general over this series rather than personally with Andrew. I enjoy the Sunday "reader's stories" and look forward to reading it each week. Today as I read the story I immediately thought – "oh man not another one about bankruptcy!" Obviously, I already know that bankruptcy is an option. It is my impression that many of the GRS readers are people who are looking for a different way to handle their financial situations. If the idea is that "reader stories" are supposed to be experiences of "people like us," we want to be able to relate. I am well aware that you cannot please everyone. I just think that maybe the majority of "reader stories" could involve more creative solutions.
I think this writer had it very easy. He had safety nets whenever he turned around. He lived with parents, fell back on the bankruptcy and then lived with parents yet again? I don't know many people – any really – who could do this. While it is nice to think or imagine that one could have that easy-out, I think many people have too much pride for that. There is real satisfaction in making it on your own, correcting your own mistakes and sustaining yourself by your own means. I think that this writing is missing out on a lot of this satisfaction and will not be truly successful and possibly fail yet again, until he achieves some of this and can experience what it really feels like.
Hey, Andrew, I know exactly what you mean about letting that tax reserve kinda slide during the year, and then having to scramble to come up with the money when it's due. I became self-employed when I was about 25, and it took awhile to get into the swing of setting aside a percentage of every payment I invoiced. I well remember that sinking feeling when doing my tax return, and thinking "Oh, dear, the next few months are going to be lean while I fix this situation…again…."
Good luck with turning over that new leaf.
I read this post earlier today and had come back after thinking about it for several hours.
There are several issues here for me. The first one being that I think it is difficult to accept some of Andrew's assertions because he is so clearly at the beginning of his financial "journey". He has some very optimistic goals, but not a lot of past precedence to make those goals seem realistic (to me).
I am supportive of people declaring bankruptcy when they get overwhelmed by debt. But, it is hard for me to understand how one is overwhelmed with debt when the month after going through bankruptcy, the person is off on a trip to Europe, using *cash*. Where did that cash come from? That is a pretty large amount of money to spend, no matter who is looking at it. Besides it being a bad financial decision (since there were still medical bills, taxes, etc)…there doesn't seem to be any indication on the part of the author that clearly he had more money than he represented during bankruptcy hearings. Just acknowledging it as a bad decision doesn't show me that you have learned anything from it.
Right now, the author is an unreliable narrator. It is not that I doubt his desire to change, or the basic ability to get himself out of debt…but he hasn't done that yet. It's not that I don't want to read stories about people succeeding, I do, but this story seems to be more analogous to someone who wants to lose weight who is telling us about their awesome plan to drop a ton of weight really quickly, because that is totally possible, even though they spent the last 10 years gaining 150 extra pounds. And they are going to keep on eating some really yummy (and fattening) desserts while they quickly lose the weight they have planned.
Losing weight in those circumstances is certainly possible, and a very small minority of people may be able to do that. But rarely is weight loss done healthily in that kind of method, and rarely does it last.
For me, I wished that we were a year from now with Andrew and he was telling us that he was truly debt free, with savings and had lived a while with the "maintenance" part of financial responsibility. Because this post seems more aspirational at this moment than realistic. You've shown us the mistakes you made getting into debt, but you haven't lived the mistakes and learning that you go through getting out of debt, because it hasn't yet happened.
Good luck with your financial makeover Andrew, I hope you are successful.
38Stories about personal finance include the good, the bad, and the flat out butt-ugly. Although I completely disagree with Andrew J.'s past decision to file bankruptcy, I don't condemn his personal character or question his morality for choosing to do so. The whole point of Andrew's post is that we all have, do, and will make mistakes with our personal finances. However, we can recover from these decisions when we as individuals decide to take responsibility for our actions.
The unfortunate part of Andrew's story is that it took him ten years before he was able to get it together. In his post, I was most struck by the fact that Andrew was a young man who had no idea what personal finance was before he started making very adult decisions about money. In this regard, he went through the school of very hard knocks before he was able to figure things out.
He's not the only one, though. Many of the readers and regular posters on this blog made stupid decisions when it came to money. I know I did. Whether it be taking out student loans at 18 years old and not understanding how much we would be required to pay back every month once we graduated; using the expectation of our salary increases to justify buying a piece of property that we couldn't afford; or using a credit card to supplement our income rather than biting the bullet and living within our means; we are all the victims of our own stupid mistakes, and Andrew is no different.
I understand (but do not share) the resentment of those posters who feel like Andrew took the easy way out by filing for bankruptcy. Andrew made the legal choice to file for bankruptcy, but there will be consequences for his actions. One day, he may meet the person of his dreams, and that dream will probably include settling down and buying a house. Another day, Andrew may get tired of the daily grind of working a 9 to 5, get bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, and decide to open his own business. Guess what, though? It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for him to get loans for either without a sizeable contribution on his part.
There is an illusion about personal bankruptcy in this country that we all suffer from. In the short-term, it looks like the individual who files for bankruptcy will simply be able to just walk away, but in the long-term, bankruptcy will bite you in the you-know-what. That's the butt-ugly of personal finance. Not the immediate gain, but the long-term pain.
Good luck to you, Andrew, and thank you for sharing your story.
By the way, J.D. is right. GRS posters really are the best, but we're also human. It's good to have disagreements once in a while.
That's a great story, and very well written. Good job, Andrew, on moving on after your mistakes and sharing your problems and solutions with the rest of us. There is a lot of valuable information to take away from this post
This is an excellent story with a good message. It was written with the deepest honesty which I really appreciated. This can happen to anyone but the truth is you decided to get out of the situation.
I hope you do reach that $10,000 goal and can come back in a year or so with a story of what you did to reach this goal and whether it ended up being more (should there be any windfalls)
Best of luck to you! Highly moving story.
The great thing about this story is that Andrew knows what he's doing now. He's never going bankrupt again. He's trying to never even go into debt again. Even if you think bankruptcy in his circumstances was a horrible choice, you can now feel good that he has changed into the sort of guy who will never make that kind of choice again. He is dedicated to learning more about personal finance, and from now on, he'll be making choices based on a lot more knowledge and information.
And he also now knows that things come up–both things you should have expected (like taxes) and things you don't expect (like injuries and bad break-ups), and emergency funds can save people from all manner of terrible decisions.
For those who are surprised he could afford to pay for a vacation in cash right after a bankruptcy, remember that he went with a bunch of friends, so they were probably sharing a lot of expenses, and remember that he said he was making decent money but just not managing it well.
This is amazing. Your honesty, I mean. The idea of getting out of debt terrifies me. I don't know why. It sounds ridiculous – what am I scared of? I think it's about giving up, but deep down I know that it would ultimately be about getting more. Thank-you for sharing your story: I don't know if I could do that so bravely!
I have to admit, the bankruptcy, "debt-free" comment did cause my gut to clench just a bit, particularly in these times. On the other hand, a friend of mine is continuing to throw money at a duplex in CA that he bought for $300K and is now worth $95K. He is 30 years old and unmarried, and shares a house far out of town with 3-4 roommates so he can continue making payments. I have to respect his integrity, but his story is the other extreme, with a single bad financial decision now controlling his life.
I don't know what the right answer is. I settled with a credit card company my last year of college, for about 10% of what I owed. Did I spend that money foolishly? Hell yeah. I don't know how many lattes and late-night pizzas I bought with that credit card, but trust me: they were legion. It affected me, though, and like Andrew I used cash and nothing but cash for the next three years, even to the point of stupidity (long story, but I lived overseas and calls with a credit card were .10/min and calls with cash were .75/min).
The fact is, we are all young and stupid sometimes, and the important thing is to continue to educate ourselves on where these kinds of decisions can lead.
I very much enjoy, and have learned many things by reading, the comments on blog entries on this site. I'm not sure why this post has spurred so much apparent self-analysis of the site, since it should have been entirely predictable that a personal story involving a bankruptcy would draw some negative comments.
I don't think the comments have been outside the bounds of decency.
I think one of the reasons that there are so many negative comments on the story (besides the bankruptcy) is that the author hasn't actually done anything yet. It's as if someone told a story of years of unsucessful dieting but then said they had a revelation and figured they could loose 50 lbs this year. Well…ok but what makes us think it will be different this time? Realization is the first step but it doesn't always lead to actions. Hope to hear a follow-up in a year.
Well, it's my guess that Andrew won't be filing for bankruptcy again in the future and THAT is what really seems to be the point of the story.
Andrew, thanks for sharing.
I just wanted to reply to Erica Douglass' comments. She stated: "For some reason, this site attracts people of certain viewpoints, and when someone writes a story that doesn't fit their view, the comments get nasty. I can tell you that it discourages a lot of people from sharing stories."
I disagree. There are some PF blogs out there that have some VERY cynical, hateful comments – I don't feel that this is one of them. I do feel that people here are honest, which I think is great and refreshing!
I found it interesting to read Erica's comments, and then go back and read her guest post. As I recalled, it left me with a bad taste as well. Not because of the choices, but because of the attitude implied by the article. One reason this blog is so great is that JD can share his opinions, and they may be different or even flat-out "wrong" in someone else's eyes, but he states his opinions respectfully. His writing reflects a humble, approachable attitude – and so have most of the guest posts here! It becomes less about money and more about real, honest life.
In summary to this massively long, probably strangely-worded comment: I have learned so, so, so much from both JD, guest writers, and the comments! It is absolutely my favorite place to turn to for advice in financial matters. Keep it up!
I'm starting to think that every reader should have to submit a Reader Story before they're allowed to comment. Peer pressure is a very effective tool, guys, but it doesn't work retroactively!
Something that's done, is DONE – and if someone is self-aware enough to write a story about bad financial decisions they've made, there is a very good chance that they have truly hit bottom and had their moment of clarity.
It's idiotic to say someone "should have done" thus-and-so. Not one of us can change the past. It's also idiotic to say someone *who you don't even know* can't or won't change their behavior.
Personally, I find it interesting that people slammed an earlier submitter over her relationship decisions as well as her financial decisions – but no one's talking about Andrew and his helped-herself ex-girlfriend. Not one of the marriage zealots has come out to bash him for that. Because he's a guy?
Anyway. Andrew, best of luck to you. I, at least, am confident that you have gained the necessary self-knowledge to make sounder choices in the future.
L, here is the post that describes the background I have and the reason I'm no longer "humble":
By the way, "humble" is just another American accepted cultural norm.
"I'd be interested to hear from Andrew again in two years. I'd like to hear if he took advantage of the opportunity to start over or if it turns out that he can talk the talk but cannot walk the walk."
See, this is my concern. If Andrew becomes a better person for it and truly goes on to do great things (who knows, maybe finds a way to right his wrongs), that is one thing. But at least from what I read, it's difficult to know this.
As a comparison, when I was in high school I stole a ton of music by downloading it for free (which many young people did). However, five years later, a professor convinced me I was wrong and I worked to find every song I stole, and purchase it legally. Did that right my wrongs? No because even on an inflation-adjusted payback it wasn't the same. But I never downloaded songs illegally again and would never do so since I realize that artists, regardless of their pay, put forth effort to create those songs and that money is what they deserve if I want the song.
If Andrew learns from this and grows, that is awesome and this is a truly inspiring story. But I think that in some cases time is the ultimate judge.
Either way Andrew, write to us again in a year or so and let us know how you're doing .


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Congressional resistance to cost-cutting opens $70B hole in DoD budget
The Pentagon will begin a new fiscal year under yet another continuing resolution. When a budget finally is passed, Defense Department officials expect Congress to reject a significant number of proposals to cut DoD's own costs.
Tags: DoD , sequestration , budget , Robert Work , Council on Foreign Relations , continuing resolution , Jared Serbu
AFGE issues 10 challenges to new EEOC chair
President Barack Obama named Jenny R. Yang as the new EEOC chair Tuesday, but one employee union has already given her a list of issues they'd like to see her tackle.
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OMB to Congress: Fix 2015 budget to avoid return of limited sequester
The White House sends its annual report to Congress outlining the cuts to discretionary spending next year. DoD, Energy and the FBI would face an extra $34 million cut to reach Budget Control Act cap levels if the Senate's spending bills become law.
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Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think
It was just a year ago that feds were facing furloughs and worrying about a possible government shutdown. Things sure have changed, haven't they?
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Pay raises, postal reform and federal management
On this week's Your Turn radio show, Greg Stanford from the Federal Managers Association discusses firing senior executives and sequestration, among other topics. Andy Medici from the Federal Times joins host Mike Causey to discuss pay raises, postal reform and the IRS budget.
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DoD hunting for value, innovation not just lowest price
When it comes to lowest price, technically acceptable policies, the Defense Department wants more than "acceptable" for its acquisition services. Even with looming sequestration forcing DoD to stretch financially, Frank Kendall, undersecretary of Defense acquisition, technology and logistics, said the department must incentivize contractors to provide better value as well as best prices.
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Panel: 2014 QDR reveals 'growing gap' between DoD mission, available resources
The National Defense Panel delivered "Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future" an assessment of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review put forth by the Defense Department.
Tags: DoD , Quadrennial Defense Review , BRAC , workforce , sequestration , National Defense Panel , Paul Hughes , Shefali Kapadia
Shutdown: Not Again!
Worried about a repeat of last year's government shutdown? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey tells us whether there's another October surprise in your future.
Tags: Mike Causey , workforce , shutdown , Congress , budget , sequestration
Robert Levinson, Senior Defense Analyst, Bloomberg Government
Top Pentagon officials have been railing against the consequences of sequestration ever since the Budget Control Act was passed in 2011. And in their planning documents, they've also decided not to acknowledge the likelihood that the cuts are here to stay. For the last three years, officials have submitted budget requests that exceed the caps in current law, and they've indicated they plan to continue doing so in future years. Even if the Pentagon isn't building its military plans around sequestration, some outside analysts are taking a look at what various scenarios would look like under lower funding levels. One of them is Rob Levinson. He's a senior defense analyst for Bloomberg Government, and shared some financial predictions on In Depth with guest host Jared Serbu.
Tags: Robert Levinson , Bloomberg Government , sequestration , DoD , budget
DoD must 'reset' to prepare for future budget struggles
To maintain readiness under current budget pressure, the Defense Department needs to have a long-term mindset and rethink their force structure, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee.
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I love it by Old man in Memphis on 06/22/2007. Trim: 2003 BMW Z8 Alpina, Owned less than 1 year.
Pros: I bought this 2003 (313) Alpina three months ago with 8,200 miles on it. It is the most beautiful car I have ever seen. Of course, I am a retro fan an own a 1965 Mustang convertible, 1959 Bugeye Sprite, and a 1994 Porsche Cararra 4. I marvel at this car. It is some machine. It won't corner like my 911 and doesn't have the driving characteristics of a Porsche. This is a car for straight down the road. It goes and it stops very well. No question the strong suit is looks if you like retro (timeless) styling.
Cons: The radio and CD operation is not good. Also, the GPS is a pain and not as advanced as others. However I use Tom Tom with my Palm 650 so I am unaffected.
Overall review: Overall I have never owned a car I liked more for what I wanted it to do. I love my 1994 Porsche 911 C-4 and would never sell it. The Porsche is more of a sports car. Of course the Alpina is automatic transmission (with paddle shift in manual mode) so I was looking for something to drive while drinking coffee and talking on the cell phone. This car is used by me as a powerful cruiser rather than a hard core sports car that you have to pay attention to drive.
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Century MMA Shin/Instep GuardsItem Number: 12024951
Price: $29.99
Free Shipping Eligible on Qualifying Purchases Over $49! Up to $15 Shipping Credit. (See Promotion Details)
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Constructed of soft neoprene fabric inside and durable outer polyurethane, the Century® MMA Shin/Instep Guards provide superior comfort during training with lightweight high density foam for impact absorption. Two hook and loop straps secure the guards around the legs with an elastic strap to secure the insteps over the feet. Contains 1 pair.
- Constructed of polyurethane for durability
- Lined with heavy canvas
- Features shaped heavy foam and gel padding stitched in the front for optimal protection and coverage
- 2 backside hook-and-loop straps secure the guard to legs
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Country of Origin: China
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Rated 4 out of 5�by 4 reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5�by Todd They fit great theses shin guards worked out great. The price was fair, I don't have any complates with this product. March 5, 2014
Rated 2 out of 5�by OctaneMMA Would Not Recommend For MMA After receiving a pair of the Century MMA Shin/Instep guards that I bought to keep at our Gym to be used by new students we quickly realized that these were not up to the caliber we need. The first problem we encountered was with sizing. These seem to be sized for Kids and not adults as they do not cover the entire shin. Secondly the construction was not that great and does not seem like it would provide much protection or durability going forward. So you may ask why 2 stars and not 1. I would recommend these to someone who is just looking to train using a heavy bag but not spar but for what we bought them for they did not meet our standards. December 20, 2012
Rated 4 out of 5�by Tori Awesome I use this product specifically for muay thai and had not trouble putting it on. It easy to use and store back in my bag. The only thing different i would change is to have the pads a little thicker on the shin. August 5, 2012
Rated 5 out of 5�by onanotherlevel Great product and cheap I train in MMA 6 days a week. They offer enough protection so that you don't get injured and enough so that you can feel it so you can make corrections to form May 7, 2012
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These data charts contain the full results of Forrester's August 2012 Global SharePoint Usage Online Survey. The results indicate that weak mobile access and social computing features combined with...
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|Disc 1
1. Katiya Karun - Harshdeep Kaur
2. Phir Se Ud Chala - Mohit Chauhan
3. Jo Bhi Main - Mohit Chauhan
4. Kun Faya Kun - A. R. Rahman, Javed Ali, Mohit Chauhan
5. The Dichotomy Of Fame - Feat Balesh On Shahnai, Kabul On Guitars
Disc 2
1. Sheher Mein - Mohit Chauhan, Karthik
2. Hawaa Hawaa - Mohit Chauhan
3. Nadaan Parinde - A. R. Rehman, Mohit Chauhan
4. Saadda Haq - Mohit Chauhan
I have pre ordered Rockstar on flipkart and i am hoping to this album soon in my hands....but the songs are already available on the net...i must say this album is going to go places...phir se ud chala..naadan parindey..sada haq...shehar se...hawa hawa...are mind blowing..rahman is back with a bang.i always wondered how this wizard comes with such sounds, so unique..mohit chauhan steals the show..way to go rahman..you make your fans proud of you..
So rahman has done it,with compositions that are not such that they can be done by anyone, its only rahamn magik, he is the best.
Rockstar music all set to set charts ablaze....rock on...!!!!
Superb music...Sadda Haq is the new youth anthem of India and one of the most powerful song.Katiya Karoona is a punjabi folk song.
Don't miss Nadaan Parindey sung AR Rahman himself and its gonna be a huge hit.
AR Rahman always surprises with his compositions. This time he's surprised with Sheher Mein and it has a feel good factor.
Each and every track of Rockstar is a gem.
Well..Being a keyboardist n sound mixing artist myself,i take ARR as my Jesus Christ..A person who inspired me to b a musician..who taught me so muchh..
This album is one more addition to his treasure of gems.
"Aur Ho" is typically rahmaniac..xperimental instrumentation,haunting and great chord progression..love it..
"Nadaan parinde" being in ARR's own voice n great percussion work by shivamani stands out as a terrific composition..great song indeed.
"Katiya karun" is a verrrry sweeet song..folkish feeling n some funfilled punjabi loops..its a bit unusual s... (Expand)
the audio quality is same as that of a audio CD. i expect better resolution from a vinyl. Its supposed to be a same quality as in a recording studio where it was recorded. atleast send better resolution audio for vinyl pressing or else whats the point.. (View complete review)
I have a special liking to Hindi songs of Rahman sir. Rockstar songs will stay for ever in my heart. Well, from where should I start, instant like while listening to Kun Faya Kun, Aur Ho takes me to another world, Nadaan Parindey, Saddah Haq energizes you, Katiya Karun is enjoybale so is Phir se... (View complete review)
very Fast delivery, Just 24 hours #Flipkart.
well after H. Shridhar (Sound mixer), Rahman's magic was almost gone, but He is back with this "RockStar". I have rahman's almost all albums (except tamil ones). But this is among BEST.
Mohit Chauhan & Irshad Both are on their Best.
Kati... (View complete review)
Again a great work by the maestro...
Songs are amazing... These grow on you slowly and never leave you...
Naadan parinde... Shahar main... kun faya kun... Can't stop listening to them again and again...
Thank You Rahman... (View complete review)
Only a few can make u smile with tears and on a daily note.. songs that has every emotions.. felt the past, the present and future...
be there..love you ARR and God the almighty for blessing him with skills that makes you famous.. (View complete review)


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The southwest corner of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway, has stately homes, deserted hills and ruined abbeys to compete with the best of the Borders. It also has the Solway coast, a long, indented coastline of sheltered sandy coves that's been dubbed the "Scottish Riviera" – it's certainly Scotland's warmest, southernmost stretch of coastline.
Dumfries is the largest town in the region, and only really a must for those on the trail of Robert Burns. Further west is enticing Kirkcudbright, once a bustling port thronged with sailing ships, later an artists' retreat, and now a tranquil, well-preserved little town. Contrasting with the essentially gentle landscape of the Solway coast is the brooding presence of the Galloway Hills to the north, their beautiful moors, mountains, lakes and rivers centred on the Galloway Forest Park, a hillwalking and mountain-biking paradise.Read More
- Dumfries
Caerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock Castle is a picture-perfect ruined castle, moated, built from rich local red sandstone, triangular in shape and with a mighty double-towered gatehouse. The most surprising addition, however, lies inside, where you're confronted by the ornate Renaissance facade of the Nithsdale Lodging, erected in the 1630s by the first earl of Nithsdale. The decorated tympana above the windows feature lively mythological and heraldic scenes. Sadly, six years later Nithsdale and his garrison were forced to surrender after a thirteen-week siege and bombardment by the Covenanters, who wrecked the place. It was never inhabited again.
KIRKCUDBRIGHT – pronounced "kir-coo-bree" – hugging the muddy banks of the River Dee ten miles southwest of Castle Douglas, is the only major town along the Solway coast to have retained a working harbour. In addition, it has a ruined castle and an attractive town centre, a charming medley of simple two-storey cottages and medieval pends, Georgian villas and Victorian townhouses, all brightly painted.
Galloway Forest Park
Galloway Forest Park
Galloway Forest Park is Britain's largest forest park, with a spectacularly varied landscape of mountain peaks, lochs, coast and moorland, cut through by the Southern Uplands Way. It has visitor centres at Clatteringshaws Loch, Glentrool and Kirroughtree. Each has a tearoom, several waymarked walks and information on activities and events. The only tarmacked road to cross the park is the desolate twenty-mile stretch of the A712 between Newton Stewart and New Galloway, known as the Queen's Way. There's a Wild Goat Park on the Queen's Way in the heart of the park and, a mile or so further up the road, a Red Deer Range.
Both Glentrool and Kirroughtree visitor centres have mountain bike trails, which form part of southern Scotland's outstanding mountain-biking facilities, known as the 7 Stanes. Of the two, Kirroughtree, three miles east of the town of Newton Stewart, is by far the most varied and fun, with lots of exciting singletrack trails for all abilities and good bike-rental facilities.
About seven miles east of Newton Stewart, at the Grey Mare's Tail Bridge, various hiking trails delve into the pine forests beside the tarmacked road, crossing gorges, waterfalls and burns. Clatteringshaws Loch, meanwhile, a reservoir surrounded by pine forest at the southeastern edge of the park, has a fourteen-mile footpath running right around it. Serious hikers should head for Glentrool, at the western edge of the park, about ten miles north of Newton Stewart, where a narrow lane twists the five miles over to Loch Trool. From here, you can follow the Gariland Burn to Loch Neldricken and Loch Enoch, with their silver granite sands, and then on to the Devil's Bowling Green, strewn with hundreds of boulders left by the retreating glaciers. Alternatively, you can head for the Range of the Awful Hand, whose five peaks include the Merrick (2746ft).


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News from WTOP
News from the AP
Mike Causey
Shows & Panels
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Shows & Panels
- The 2014 Big Picture on Cyber Security
- AFCEA Answers
- Ask the CIO
- Building the Hybrid Cloud
- CDWG/NetApp
- Connected Government: How to Build and Procure Network Services for the Future
- Continuing Diagnostics and Mitigation: Discussion of Progress and Next Steps
- Federal Executive Forum
- Federal Tech Talk
- The Future of Government Data Centers
- The Future of IT: How CIOs Can Enable the Service-Oriented Enterprise
- Government Perspectives on Mobility and the Cloud
- The Intersection: Where Technology Meets Transformation
- Maximizing ROI Through Data Center Consolidation
- Mitigating Insider Threats in Virtual & Cloud Environments
- Modern Mission Critical Series
- Moving to the Cloud. What's the best approach for me
- Navigating Tough Choices in Government Cloud Computing
- The New Generation of Database
- Reimagining the Next Generation of Government
- Satellite Communications: Acquiring SATCOM in Tight Times
- Targeting Advanced Threats: Proven Methods from Detection through Remediation
- Transformative Technology: Desktop Virtualization in Government
- The Truth About IT Opex and Software Defined Networking
- Value of Health IT
- Air Traffic Management Transformation Report
- Cloud First Report
- General Dynamics IT Enterprise Center
- Gov Cloud Minute
- Government in Technology Series
- Homeland Security Cybersecurity Market Report
- National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- Technology Insights
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What's the latest on Capitol Hill?
Wednesday - 5/21/2014, 5:43pm EDT
May 21, 2014 -- This week on "Your Turn", Chris Farrell, with the legislative department of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, joins host Mike Causey to talk about pending legislation in Congress that affects federal workers.
Farrell tracks current bills and is a goldmine of information about how the process works (or not) on Capitol Hill. He's also been-there-done-that on many legislative skirmishes ranging from proposals to de-liberalize the retirement system, reduce future COLAs and raise employee contributions.
He'll also explain how COLAs can be delayed, deferred or come in diet versions, and why employees can't retire at the end of the year to get a bigger COLA than their pay raise.


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Petworth Pacers: A Mature & Motivated Walking Fitness Program
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Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - 10:30 a.m.
Want to stay fit and fabulous at 50+?
Join the next "Petworth Pacers" gathering. All walkers should bring their own water bottle (and a small face towel for perspiration, if you like) and dress in comfortable, weather-appropriate, movement-oriented clothing.
Walks are low impact and moderately paced on either a track or throughout the Petworth neighborhood. We warm up, then walk for 1 hour and focus on elevating the heart rate, regulating pace and breath, staying hydrated and enjoying each other's company in the great outdoors. We will meet if there is light rain/misting, but cancel if there is heavy downpour.
Call 202-243-1187 to register.


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Michael McKean
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - MaxPro Technologies
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - Al's Awning Shop
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - General Partitions
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - Ernst Conservation Seeds
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - The Ribbon Factory
WEB EXTRA: Made in America - Lakeshore Industries
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca, Queen Cutlery
WEB EXTRA: Allegheny Wood Works
WEB EXTRA: Freezerie
The full interview with the Dorman's about their tragedy, and how they're inspiring others.
Linh Truong learns how to make a Large Marge sandwich at White Turkey in Conneaut, OH.
WEB EXTRA: Ken Springirth Talks Rail Terminal
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - Smith's
WEB EXTRA - Made In AmERIca - Greenfield Basket Co
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca, Seaway Manufacturing
Manufacture of customer firearms.
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - Rae Foods
Take a virtual ride on the Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park.
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca, Howard Industries
WEB EXTRA: Made in AmERIca - Concrete Craft
Emergycare Operations Supervisor Harry Latta explains how first responders are treating heroin overdoses.
WEB EXTRA: Made In AmERIca - Laser Tool & Plastics
WEB EXTRA: Corry Rubber
Doug Walczak, Owner
WEB EXTRA: Made In America - S&S Packaging
WEB EXTRA: WD Horseshow Company
WEB EXTRA: Made In America, Munio
Jon Dearment
We're making the case in this weeks made in America.
Vince Palermo, Erie Festival Of The Arts organizer talks about the festivals future
WEB EXTRA: Jackburn Industries
In the offices of Scott Whalen, Jim Fiorenzo and Jim Rutkowski Sr.
Erie County Executive kathy Dahlkemper joins us to talk about the county's hotel bond guarantee.
Pat Harkins says Harborcreek is not the right location
If there were ever Good Ideas for made in America, this week nails it. A business in Lake City called Good Ideas, has plenty of them. From rain barrels to composters, the environment and recycling is strong in their beliefs. But first and foremost they're proud their products are made in America, made right here.
WEB EXTRA: Good Ideas, Ross Smith
Erie City Council approved a resolution for the city to apply for the money through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
An apartment house fire in Meadville on January 28th left nine families homeless. The building at Chesnut and Liberty Street used to house the Meadville Conservatory of Music. Here are images of that fire from JET24/FOX66 crawford county videographer Heather Reichel.
Fato Abdi, 4, died after fire took over her family's apartment at 2525 German Street.
Casey Wells talks about the final phase of the Warner Theatre.
Cokie discusses tonight's State of the Union Address by President Obama
WEB EXTRA: John Johnson, Port Erie Plastics


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Jim Souhan analyzes the local sports scene and advises you to never take his betting advice. He likes old guitars and old music, never eats press box hot dogs, and can be heard on 1500ESPN at 2:05 p.m. weekdays, and Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon.
Find him on Twitter
Tidbits following the Wolves' 108-103 victory over Atlanta at Target Center on Tuesday night:
-16-15 matches the Wolves' best record after 31 games since they were 16-15 in 2006-07
-The Wolves had lost 11 straight to the Hawks.
-The Wolves are 8-0 this season when scoring 100.
-Nikola Pekovic had 25 points and 18 rebounds, helping the Wolves dominate the scoring in the paint, 50-38.
-Ricky Rubio finished with eight assists. He didn't drive the lane often, but he was deft in finding teammates open for jump shots.
-Derrick Williams matched a career-high by hitting three three-pointers. He's shooting 45.2 percent on 3s in his last 31 shots.
-Andrei Kirilenko, the lovable Russian, had 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. He reached 2,0000 career assists. He needs one steal to become the 15th player in NBA history to reach 2,000 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 blocks.
Wrote my column on the Wolves' injury woes and the admirable way they've overcome them. I invoke the name of Joey Two Steps.
I'll be on 1500espn from 9-noon all week with Judd Zulgad. I believe we'll have Wolves coach Bill Bayno on at some point tomorrow.
Please follow me on Twitter at @Souhanstrib.
Who would have imagined a few months ago that our most prominent winter sports teams would add Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko?
The Wild, one of the most boring teams in the NHL the past two seasons, should now be entertaining, and should make the playoffs.
The Wolves now feature a starting lineup that, when the knees of Roy and Ricky Rubio are willing, will look something like this: Rubio, Roy, Kirilenko, Love, Pekovic. With a bench of Budinger, Ridnour, Barea, Stiemsma and Derrick Williams.
In short, the Wolves have added depth and talent without sacrificing Williams or trading away first-round draft picks. Kirilenko will add length to the Wolves' defense, and can score and get to the line without hogging the ball. He should mesh well in Adelman's offense.
The Wolves could have made a bigger splash, by trading for Pau Gasol or Nic Batum. But they would have had to sacrifice valuable assets to get those players. They may be better off, long-term, by adding Kirilenko as a free-agent and helping Williams develop into either a starter or a more valuable trade chip.
The Wolves will also be improved because they won't be relying on Wes Johnson, Mike Beasley, Anthony Randolph and Darko to play important minutes. This is the definition of addition by subtraction.
Could we see the Wolves and the Wild in the playoffs? I think so. Especially if Rubio recovers well and Roy can play valuable minutes.
I hope to watch the Russian team with Kirilenko and Alexey Schved on Sunday, and get Kirilenko's thoughts on playing for the Wolves.
I don't often envy athletes. Those who are great successes lead great lives, but most wind up frustrated, broke and without a real career at the age of 35.
Here's a guy I envy: Kurt Rambis.
Rambis will be paid $4 million to not work for David Kahn and Glen Taylor.
Yes, I'm jealous.
-Now that the Rambis fiasco is over, where will Kahn turn for his next coach?
Strib Wolves beat wrtier Jerry Zgoda listed some potential candidates. Rick Adelman would be a grand slam, a fine coach who deals well with players, emphasizes ball movement and can play fast enough to satisfy Kahn.
Don Nelson would be a an act of desperation, another example of Kahn reaching for a proven name, even though the proven name was kicked out of his last two jobs and is 71.
Sam Mitchell still interests me, but I keep hearing that he has no shot at this job.
Know what name I like on Zgoda's list? Dave Joerger. I like coaches who commit to being a head coach early in their career, rather than riding coattails like Rambis did with Phil Jackson. I like guys who learn how to win at lower levels before they climb to the big time. And I like guys, like Joerger and Dwane Casey and Tom Thibodeau, who are given responsibility for an NBA team's defense and succeed.
Joerger helped the Grizzlies make the playoffs and beat the Spurs. He'd be hungry and driven. I don't know if he'd be the right guy, but he has the right kind of resume for my tastes.
-It's amazing. Every scout and baseball person and even baseball writer I speak with tells me they expect the Twins to win the AL Central. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised by that, but I fear fans are assuming it's going to be easy, and the Twins will still have to play at a remarkable pace to make it to 85 victories, which is probably the fewest number of victories that would win the division. (That's just my guess.)
The Twins are 41-48. Can they really go 44-29 with this bullpen?
I believe they'll have to find at least one more arm to go with Matt Capps, Joe Nathan and Glen Perkins. Maybe that's Chuck James. Maybe that's Carlos Gutierrez. More likely, the Twins will have to overpay to land a reliever on the trade market.
The Twins are obligated to go for it, given the continuing sellouts in Target Field. But I'm not sure their farm system can take many more hits.
Remember, one of the reasons the Twins were able to surge back into relevance in the early 2000s was because of the trades made by Terry Ryan. He got Johan Santana for nothing; Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser for a catcher who was about to be replaced by Joe Mauer (A.J. Pierzynski), and made minor deals for Jason Bartlett, Lew Ford, Alexi Casilla and others who offered value.
Those deals are hard to make. So while the Twins may find it necessary to trade for another reliever, they can't afford to give up any more top prospects.
-Upcoming: I"ll be on 1500espn at 2:40 today, then filling in for Joe Anderson tonight from 6-8. My guests will include Dave St. Peter, San Jose columnist Tim Kawakami (on the NBA, Don Nelson, Moneyball and the Giants), my personal soccer guru Dana Wessel and Lynx star Maya Moore.
Greetings from Milwaukee. It's a beautiful day here, spent the morning walking down to the lakefront, running into dozens of Twins fans wearing their gear.
Milwaukee always feels, to me, like a smaller, slower Chicago.
I've read a bunch of excerpts from the Bill Simmons interview of David Kahn. Where else would Kahn cut open a vein, but on the BS Report?
The funny thing is, if there's anyone who has criticized Kahn more than me, it's Simmons. But Kahn is desperate to appear legitimate and to defend himself, and he can't find a bigger audience than by speaking with Simmons.
What's amazing is that Kahn can change his story from minute to minute. His first year on the job, I wrote about how I didn't think the triangle offense was a good fit for his team, and particularly Jonny Flynn, and he called me to explain that the offense wasn't necessarily the triangle and...well, I dozed off after a while, so I'm not sure what else he had to say.
Now he's telling Simmons that the triangle didn't work with this team, and damaged Flynn's progress, which is exactly the point he was trying to shoot down when I made it two years ago.
Kahn also repeats the ridiculous notion that he's still making a decision on Rambis.
I've had colleagues tell me they find all of this highly entertaining. I don't. I see a guy you can't trust running a team I want to care about.
People in my business use the ``Event X will define Person X's legacy'' line way too often, but I"ll say this: Kahn's decision on his head coach could determine whether he'll have the job two years from now.
If he keeps Rambis, he's in deep trouble. If he fires Rambis and make a ridiculous move like the rumored Bernie Bickerstaff hire, he'll be on his way out. If he fires Rambis and somehow lands a legitimate, quality, NBA coach, that coach could take an interesting group of young players, improve the team's record dramatically in part because there is nowhere to go but up, and make Kahn look like he knew what he was doing all along.
For example, what if the Wolves can land Rick Adelman? He's one of the best coaches in the game. I'm not sure he wants to work for this organization or endure a rebuilding project, but if the Wolves could land him, they'd improve dramatically over the next year or two.
But would Kahn be willing to hire someone who could wind up becoming the primary personnel voice in the organization? That's the big question surrounding the Wolves right now.
-Maybe Joe Mauer and Jose Mijares sniping at each other last night means nothing. These things do happen.
Or maybe Mijares' willingness to challenge the Twins' franchise player is a sign that Mauer, in the midst of a season in which many people in the organization have become frustrated with him, no longer commands unversal respect or receives the benefit of the doubt in the clubhouse.
I've always been told by Twins people that Mauer is not an exceptional pitch-caller. But when you hit .340 and throw out runners, nobody's going to complain very loudly about that.
Now, though, Mauer is swinging weakly and throwing poorly and at least some of his teammates have privately questioned whether he's willing to play with pain or discomfort, and now a less-than-established player like Mijares is calling him out?
Does that seem like a coincidence?
There is also the question of why Mijares didn't shake off Mauer if he didn't want to throw a 3-2 fastball to Prince Fielder. That is a good question. Mijares has final say.
But before that pitch was thrown, where would you have placed your faith: In the franchise player who is a veteran catcher, or in the wildly erratic lefty? Kind of like asking whether you want Brett Favre or Bernard Berrian making a call on third-and-5.
-I like the Wild's trade of Brent Burns for Devin Setoguchi for a very simple reason:
I like goals. With Burns gone and Setoguchi at forward, the Wild figure to score more, and allow more, goals, and defensive hockey bores me to tears.
Judging it more objectively, I still like it. Burns was a good guy and a real talent, but the Wild trading him when he was a year away from free agency for a talented winger who is signed for three years is exactly the kind of move the Wild needed to make.
-Still lining up guests for Sunday Morning Sports Talk. At this point I believe we'll have Derrick Williams, Chuck Fletcher and Milwaukee radio star Drew Olson. The Gardenhire Show starts at 9:30 a.m. on 1500espn followed by SMST from 10-noon.
-I'll be Twittering tonight from the Twins-Brewers game, @Souhanstrib.
I'm in Milwaukee for the Twins' series. Before the game, the Twins announced that Justin Morneau will be out until at least August. He'll undergo surgery on his neck to repair a herniated disc that is causing pain and numbness in his left arm.
We all know that the Twins have been decimated by injuries. Let's spin this story forward in two ways:
1. Gardenhire said Mauer is taking grounders in case the Twins need him to play another position with Morneau out. This can only be good. This lineup's lack of run production is catching up to it this week. Mauer needs to be in the lineup every day, one way or another. And in a National League city, with the DH not available, he should be available to play first base.
2. Once again Michael Cuddyer becomes invaluable. He's helped carry this team all month, and now he'll be needed at first, DH and in rightfield, and we know he's willing to play every day, and play with pain, and attempt to lead this team.
I didn't think there was any chance of Cuddyer re-signing with the Twins, but it's such a good marriage, both sides should strive to find a way. He's the kind of guy who should play with one franchise his entire career. He's smart enough to know the grass isn't greener elsewhere, and the Twins' entire organization values him.
And if you didn't think there was a place for him to play next year, well, the Twins can't assume Morneau is going to play 150 games at first base next season. Cuddyer would again be the perfect combination first baseman/outfielder for this team.
-Yes, I liked David Kahn's draft on Thursday night. But you knew there had to be another layer of intrigue, and here it is: There are reports (from Draftexpress.com) that Tanguy Ngombo of Qatar is 27, not 21, and is too old to be eligible for the draft.
That would be a blow to a front office that has been touting its international scouting.
What's really fascinating is that if you spell his name backwards, you get Yugnat Obmogn.
-Jose Mijares continues to be a major disappointment. Or maybe we just expected too much from him.
The guy has a career 2.73 ERA, and yet you can't trust him.
-Spoke with former Twin LaTroy Hawkins, one of my favorites, before the game. He underwent shoulder surgery last year, and has allowed just one run this season. His ERA is 0.47.
``I'm sticking around, trying to get some guys out,'' he said with a smile. ``Surgery was tough. Missing a lot of last year was tough. But I couldn't be mad. I went a long time without having surgery.
``I think the hardest part is rehab. Rehab sucks. I mean, rehab sucks. It threw mjy whole offseason out of whack.
``But you know what, you go through it and it makes you stronger and makes you appreciate your talent. It's not like I didn't take care of myself the first time, but you do take extra steps to give yourself a second chance to play the game.''
-Twins lose, 4-3. Key moment is Ron Gardenhire's decision to take Scott Baker out and have Mijares pitch to lefty Prince Fielder, one of baseball best and hottest hitters.
Fielders kills righthanders, but he also hits well against lefties.
My default position on this remains the same: I favor the Twins' starters, who have been the key to their turnaround, staying in the game as long as they can. I would much rather have Baker decide the game than Mijares. In any situation. Against any batter.
-My Milwaukee colleagues tell me that Delmon Young worked out at Miller Park for the Brewers when he was eligible for the draft in which the Rays took him first overall.
They said he put on the best power hitting display they've ever seen from an 18-year-old, bashing homers to all fields. Then the Brewers told him he could hit in the first group of batting practice, with the scrubs, and he insisted on hitting with sluggers like Richie Sexson. And he put them to shame.
Which is another reminder that Young should spend more at-bats trying to knock down a scoreboard and fewer trying to bloop a single to right.
-Upcoming: We're aiming for Wolves and Twins guests on Sunday Morning Sports Talk, 10-noon on Sunday, following the Ron Gardenhire Show at 9:30 on 1500ESPN. Also, Milwaukee radio star Drew Olson will join us to talk Brewers, Packers, Bucks, etc.
My Twitter handle is @Souhanstrib.
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text: Table 10_1_5-1 2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities ReportsThe National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness. Table 10_1_5.1Long-stay nursing home residents whose need for help with daily activities has increased, United States, 1999 and 2007a 20071999Population groupPercentSEPercentSETotal 15.90.0315.80.03Ageb0–6411.10.089.70.0965–7415.50.1014.20.0975–8416.90.0716.40.0685 and over16.90.0517.00.05GenderbMale15.70.0615.60.07Female16.10.0415.90.04Race/ethnicitybNon-Hispanic, White16.20.0416.20.04Non-Hispanic, Black14.90.1013.90.10Non-Hispanic, AI/AN14.30.4813.90.43Non-Hispanic, API13.00.2713.00.33Hispanic, all races14.10.1714.40.21a Data reflect care for the third quarter of each calendar year.b Excludes records with unknown age, gender, and race/ethnicity.Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; API: Asian or Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Minimum Data Set. Current as of March 2010 Internet Citation: Table 10_1_5-1: 2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. March 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr09/10_functional_status/T10_1_5-1.html


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A little boy is recovering in a hospital after being mauled by his neighbor's dogs.
In the attack, 7-year-old Paul Conley's ear was torn off and he was left with marks all over his body.
According to Paul's mother, Stephanie Payne, her 6-year-old son told her his brother was pulled over a neighboring home's backyard fence by the pit bulls. She ran over to the fence and looked over it to see the two dogs attacking her son.
"There's a pit bull on the side of his face and there's one with his arm in his mouth," recalled Stephanie.
"I was looking over the gate and there was a dog by the gate and I got afraid and it jumped and pulled me down," said Paul.
Stephanie and neighbors distracted the pit bulls any way they could -- even allowing the dogs bite their arms until police officers arrived at the scene near 219th Drive and Solano Drive.
Paul managed to get to safety on top a small dog house in the yard -- bleeding and wounded.
After authorities got the dogs under control, they rushed Paul to Phoenix Children's Hospital.
"It's one of those things where you hear about it, but you never think it would happen to you," said Stephanie. "Especially when he's the most selfless kid in the world. When we asked him..a friend of ours was like, 'we'll take care of those dogs,' and he looked up and said, 'No. I don't want you to go over there. I don't want you to get bit.'"
Besides losing his left ear, Paul suffered 14 lacerations on his right arm, 16 lacerations on his left arm, 17 lacerations to his left leg and a severely mangled right ear. He faces a long road to recovery.
The dogs remain in the backyard of the home, which has a notice on it that the dogs have bitten someone. The owners haven't been home since.
Stephanie says her main concerns are to make sure her son gets through this ordeal and other children are not exposed to this danger.
Paul remains hospitalized after undergoing two surgeries, since the attack which took place on Friday.
"Don't have time to be angry because I have to be strong for him. Deep down inside I'm angry, I'm angry these dogs are still in my backyard. I have other children at home. I'm angry these owners have yet to contact me to see if my son is alive or dead," says Stephanie.
Buckeye Police say there is no way the dogs could have jumped up and grabbed Paul Conley from the other side of the fence. Animal Care and Control will decide what will become of the dogs.
Video: FOX 10's Linda Williams reports.
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Posts Tagged 'Shadow Furry'
26 Kung Fu Movies Streaming on Netflix (list)
Engage your inner ninja by watching some of the top kung fu movies that are currently streaming on Netflix. Some are genre comedies, while others are straight foreign films, bringing you the best in kung fu action. And, of cour...


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Fishing Regulations & Information
Fishing, Boating & Hunting Permits
Fishing and boating are available at all three reservoirs. Water skiing and jet skiing are enjoyed at Lake Draper, which is our largest lake. State fishing license and City fishing permit required unless exempt. Boating permit also required.
Permits for all lake-related activities are available through designated vendors across the OKC Metro, and also at the Lake Draper concession area, which stocks fishing and picnic supplies. For a complete list of vendors, please click here.
The Police Department's Lake Patrol provides security and enforces permits and lake reservation regulations.
Click here to download a copy of our 2014 Fishing Regulations, or call 297-2211 to receive one by mail.
Open Daily - 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
In addition, fishing is available at several neighborhood lakes in the Parks Department's Close to Home program.
"Close to Home" fishing waters are bodies of water designated under a cooperative intensive fisheries management program between Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. These waters include:
Download a map of all 'Close to Home' lakes.
The City offers multiple fishing docks and piers accessible to persons using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. They are conveniently located near paved areas and HC-accessible parking lots. Accessibility to floating docks is dependent upon water pool levels.
City Marina: 1 courtesy dock, 1 covered fishing pier, 3 boat ramps with tending docks
Near Hefner Golf Course: Covered fishing pier
Fisherman's Neck: Covered fishing pier
Lake Overholser
Southwest corner of lake: 1 covered fishing pier
East side by Patrol Station: 1 boat ramp with tending dock
South end by dam: 1 boat ramp with tending dock
Lake Draper
City Marina: boat ramp with tending dock
Pt. 1: Boat ramp with tending dock
Pt. 4: Covered fishing pier
Pt. 6: Covered fishing pier
Pt. 9: Covered fishing pier
Pt. 19: Covered fishing pier
Pt. 23: Covered fishing pier
"Close to Home" Fishing Waters
Crystal Lake
South side of lake: uncovered fishing dock
Dolese Youth Park Pond
West side of pond: 3 wheelchair-accessible fishing pads
Edwards Fishing Pond
Southeast and east side of lake: uncovered fishing docks


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IWA Revolution Creative Team
IWA Vanities Champion: Juno Mercury!
2013: Women's Wrestler of the Year,Juno Mercury (IWA)
2013: Vanity of the Year,Juno Mercury (IWA)
Benny The Ball's Teddy is here to fuck you up...
...and then steal your girl!
Last edited by AshleyPunk; 06-03-2013 at 05:33 PM.
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What airlines have an audio channel where you can listen to Air Traffic Control communications during the flight? Do any airlines allow you to bring a scanner or aviation radio aboard to listen yourself?
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Travel Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for road warriors and seasoned travelers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
The only one I'm aware of is United Airlines, on Channel 9.
Radios are never permitted in flight. However, there are websites with live ATC feeds so if the flight had WiFi you might be able to listen through a computer.


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Welcome to the Services by Vital Signs, Inc.
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We have been serving the interpreting needs to Greater San Antonio area and South Texas since 1992. Services by Vital Signs, Inc. has over 30 certified & insured interpreters available and our experienced staff will accomodate your needs.
Our passion is to provide you with the vital link in clear and comfortable communication between you and your Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing clients.
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Service wise, everybody was helpful. They checked on us several times, making sure our needs were met.
|Aug 18, 2014 Josephine NY, United States
Very luxurious, excellent facility, amazing rooms where services are done, fantastic massage, wonderful makeup touch up.
|Aug 12, 2014 Vivian NY, United States
It was so dirty and disorganized.. No one told me where I'm supposed to go. They didn't explain the facility, so I continually asked where do I go. after my massage you're usually allowed to shower off the oil. But since They didn't give me anytime between appointments I couldn't. And felt greasy and o didn't even have time to look in the mirror so I was walking around with black eyeliner on my face. It was very very bad
I liked that you had your own bathroom suite. But I had to move to a different suite in between because I wanted to shower and couldn't go back to my original room
|Aug 11, 2014 jeanine CA, United States
Misleading information on the offer. Never received the chocolates not the make up refresher as stated in the ad
The actual massage and spa were good
|Jul 09, 2014 Roma New York, United States
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