Book Review

The Cheapskate Next Door by Jeff Yeager

The intention of this book is to give the reader secrets about living happily below your means. The author starts by giving the reader 16 attitudes that cheapskates have. Here are a few examples:

• cheapskates don't keep up with the Joneses
• cheapskates value time more than money
• cheapskates know and buy value in products
• cheapskates know the difference between needs and wants
• cheapskates avoid debt

The author then goes on giving some stories and examples of money saving cheapskate ideas in the rest of the book. Some of the ideas are simply bizarre like: not wearing underwear during the summer to saving ear wax to polish your car. No thanks.

Other ideas and examples are potentially dangerous and unhealthy like going through other peoples garbage to look for anything usable or eating from other people's leftover plates in restaurants to avoid purchasing appetizers.

Most of the tips though are already common knowledge:

• live at home for college
• go to a community college
• buy a used car and pay cash for it
• go to the library for books
• shop around for the best prices
• turn down your hot water heater
• wash clothes in cold water
• use public parks for entertainment

Overall, this book is absolutely worthless and is a waste of time. There was not one piece of good or new secret in this book. The book wasn't even a good read. This is one book you can safely skip.

Book Review

An Angel's Story by Max Lucado

This is a fictional account of the birth of Christ. Lucado tells the story of Christ's birth through the eyes of the angel Gabriel. This is a quick easy read and is a good story to read to children.

Overall, Lucado writes a very interesting story. The goal is not to embellish or make the bible more interesting or exciting. Of course, like any good story many parts are true to the word of God. However, Lucado makes his point of the book clear in the afterward section.

"Whether or not you like the fiction is insignificant. But whether or not you see the truth is essential." The truth is that God cares for His children. That's the point of this book and that is the point of God's word.

Book Review

Traveling Light by Max Lucado

This book is an interesting look at the twenty-third Psalm. The object is to show the reader how to release their burdens based upon Psalm 23.

Some of the burdens addressed are:

• Self reliance
• Discontentment
• Weariness
• Worry
• Hopelessness
• Guild
• Arrogance
• Grief
• Fear
• Shame

The author takes each verse of Psalm 23 and shows how David writes about his life and his burdens and how he knew that God was always and is always there for him. The same applies to us today as well.

In each chapter Lucado always has a story illustrating the concept. Of course, he uses his vivid and descriptive writing style to make his point. He also pulls over examples from Scripture as well.

Overall, I recommend reading this book simple for its unique view and explanation of Psalm 23. However, if you are struggling with the burdens mentioned then you should find this book extremely helpful in letting go and trusting your life to God.

Election 2010 - Update

In my last post, I was unable to make really any recommendations because all of the candidates are no good for Pennsylvania.

On Saturday, I received information from the Action Committee for Rural Electrification (this is the political group for our energy supplier, REA).

They too could not make a recommendation for:
Governor
US Senate
US Representative

But they did also recommended Dave Reed.

I will say it again, Pennsylvania is in trouble!

Election 2010

Here is the list of candidates for the 2010 Election in November.

US Senator
Joe Sestak or Pat Toomey

Governor
Dan Onorato or Tom Corbett

12th District Rep
Mark Critz or Tim Burn

Local Rep 62nd District
Dave Reed

The only candidate I can recommend is Dave Reed.

I have not decided how I will vote in the other races. My vote would merely be a vote against the other person, not a vote for someone. I may on the other hand simply write in my name. Who knows.

In either case, the next few years don't look good for Pennsylvania.

Gillette Fusion Proglide

As the quest for the perfect shave continues, my next experience involved the Gillette Fusion Proglide, a 5 blade razor. I recently purchased this razor plus two blades for about $2.00 on sale.

Knowing my shaving skills, the 5 blades made me a little nervous, so I decided to also buy a styptic pencil, which is to help stop bleeding in the case of minor cuts. After two months of using this razor I never needed or even opened the styptic pencil.

After the first shave, I was very impressed by the closeness and smoothness of this razor. However, it did not leave my face with a close smooth look, just a close smooth feel. By the end of the day you could see and feel some stubble again.

After about 2 weeks of use, the moisturizing glide strip was shot and the razor of course was no longer cutting like new. One nice aspect was the fact that the razor didn't cut me even when dull.

The razor also has a single blade to cut side burns which seemed to work well.

Overall, this is a great razor, but the question is "Is it worth the price?"

The initial cost of the razor is about $10 with 2 blades. The replacement cartridges cost about $3.00 each.

There is no doubt this is a better razor than the Bic Advanced 3 I tested a few months ago. The real test will be how this razor compares to the Schick Hydro, which will be tested next, and the Mach 3 to be tested later.

For now though I'll give this razor a 90%, mainly because of its hefty price tag.