The Girl Scout Cookie Enterprise....

If I had a dollar for every time I was solicited to purchase Girl Scout Cookies in the last month, I could by a lot of Girl Scout cookies.  Everywhere I turn, there they are....at the grocery store, Walgreen's, WalMart....The reason I bring it up is because I feel bad.  I would love to buy from every young lady that is selling, just like I would love to donate money to every single charity that asks, but you have to draw the line somewhere!  If I had my way, our pantry would be lined wall-to-wall with Peanut Butter Patties (or Tagalongs as they are referred to in the inner circle)...of course, my wife, my health, and my waste line have a different opinion. 

Case-in-point, yesterday, I am leaving the grocery store with Sunday's dinner menu when I approach a table of 2 young ladies selling the product, accompanied by their mothers.  I'm thinking to myself, what could I possibly use to rationalize a purchase?  Nothing.  So, I have 2 choices...do like many and just walk by, ignoring them, and hope that they don't see me?  That's awkward.  So, feeling it necessary to acknowledge them, I politely say "no thanks, my wife would kill me if I purchased more".  Yes, I blamed it on the wife.   One of the moms fires back jokingly (but not really) "you could keep a stash in your car" to which I said, "I'll have to pass".  It's almost like I'm at a car dealership...the nice little girl is the salesman and the mother is the aggressive Sales Manager, there to close the deal!

So I made it out of the market unscathed, but it got me thinking...why do I get so annoyed when I see the Girl Scout cookie stand?  Probably because I don't like saying "no" to nice young ladies (I am screwed if I ever have a daughter) who are actually out in the world doing something, trying to make a difference as opposed to sitting at home on their lazy butts complaining that they didn't get to go to a Justin Beiber concert.  I also started to think, hey, when I was a kid selling stuff to raise money, we went door-to-door...kids these days are lazy and just set-up shop in high-traffic areas and let the people come to them.  I then thought, these kids are freakin' smart to run their enterprise this way, I wish I would've thought of that as a kid!

But, probably the biggest frustration with this whole situation is the fact that I wish I could eat as many of those damn cookies as I want, but I can't...so as they say, "the early bird gets the worm...and my Girl Scout cookie business."

My Wife is the Best!



On this Valentine's Day, I would like to talk about why Alison is the best wife ever!

• She's beautiful...I mean, look at her!
• She's the wonderful mother of my children
• She has an excellent sense of humor
• She laughs at my cheesy jokes
• She's smart
• She's thoughtful
• She puts up with my sometimes abrasive and overly-energetic demeanor
• She's an awesome cook
• She works her butt-off as a stay-at-home mom
• She let's me eat Taco Bell...sometimes
• She's so loving and caring to all people
• She's organized
• She normally turns off the lights when she leaves a room in the house
• She lets me win disagreements...sometimes :)
• She's gentle and kind
• She's supportive, especially with my career
• She loves me!
• She's my soul mate
• She's perfect
• She's everything I could ask for in a wife...

I'm a firm believer in the theory that there is a perfect person that each of us is destined to be with.  I am so glad that I found that perfect person so we can see and experience life together as one.  I love you sweetheart!

Everything's Negotiable...

You may or may not know that everything is negotiable.  Those could actually be words to live by as this statement can be true in most parts of our lives.  For the sake of this discussion, I am referring to consumer goods.  As I eat breakfast in the morning, the TV commercials are nothing but furniture, jewelry, and car commercials...all perfect examples of things that are negotiable.  As a matter of fact, with the "sales" they run, you'd think there is no way you could get a better deal.  Think again, they can always go deeper.  You will see a commercial for "65% off a living room set...and they'll even throw in a 32-in. flat screen!"  That sounds like a good deal, but that 65% off figure is 65% of a manufacturer suggested retail price that is highly inflated....just so the retailer can say it's 65% off.  No retailer ever sells at MSRP, and no manufacturer expects you to buy at MSRP.  Plus, most retail products have more markup than you could ever imagine...200%, 300%, 500% +...there is so much margin packed into furniture, clothing, jewelry...it's nuts.

Negotiating a good deal is a rush...and it's fun, plus, it saves you money.  Many of my friends and I almost look at it like it's a competition.  Who can get the best deal...on their monthly cable service, that new pair of skis, etc.  I have buddies that actually will negotiate the price of drinks at the bar.  I try to look at diminishing return and the amount of effort it takes versus what I'm saving.  So, you won't see me negotiating with a bartender on the cost of a drink or on the price for my 6-piece McNugget combo meal...but, those bigger ticket items is where I like to drive a hard bargain.

A perfect, random example would be this...I was in need of some new prescription glasses.  I was interested in this nice designer pair.  Price said $250.  I told the manager of the store I like them and asked what his best price was.  He quickly responded that the price was $250, and proceeded to rattle off all the reasons why $250 is a value for these glasses (MSRP was $500, ha!).  Knowing that I was willing to pay $200 for them, I told him I felt $175 was a good price.  He quickly responded again with $250...this guy drove a hard bargain!  I said all I could afford was $200.  He said that unfortunately, he could not sell them to me at that price.  Now what he should have done was introduce me to a similar pair of glasses at the $200 price point (a classic, smart move for a retailer to save margin on the goods they sell), but instead, he was firm.  So, I told him I would have to look elsewhere to purchase my glasses and proceeded to walk out.  As I did so, he stopped me and said that it was my lucky day and that he would sell them to me for $200.  Success!

I wasn't going to budge on what I could afford, and was willing to walk out of the store without buying.  The manager likely came to the conclusion that even though he made less money on the sale, it's better than making NO money.  Not all retailers operate like this, but when they do, both parties win.  The key things to this type of approach are you have to be prepared to walk and not look back and you have to be firm with what you are willing to spend.  I don't always walk out of a retailer successful, but when I do walk out empty-handed, I know there's another store around the corner who wants that sale...and I'm happy to give it to them...on my terms.

Killing Me Softly...

I love Taco Bell.  I love Taco Bell so much that I actually almost purchased a franchise with a good friend and business partner (no joke...met with they Yum brands management team and they extended us a franchise agreement...but that whole story is worthy of another blog post).  I try to limit my Taco Bell intake to once a week...but I am not always so successful in that effort.  I celebrate a thing called "Taco Bell Thursdays"...that is, I eat Taco Bell every Thursday evening for dinner.  It's a way to welcome the weekend and I've been doing it since college...yes, every Thursday for the last 11 years, except Thanksgiving of course, cause no T-Bell's are open...otherwise, I would.  My wife has been so kind as to allow this OCD routine throughout our marriage.  I will typically pick her up a healthy sub from Subway, and then proceed over to Taco Bell for my gluttonous urges, which normally add up to about $13 in cheesy, beefy goodness (a don't get me started on their hot sauce, for which I have a stash that could make it through an apocalypse).  It is a literal addiction that I crave the Bell; I swear they put something in the food that gives me a chemical reliance. 

As I currently assess my life, which is a fabulous one, I realized that I'm not getting any younger and my health is as important to me as ever.  I have a fantastic family and I feel as though it's imperative that I preserve my life and start to make healthier decisions to impact it.  As I ramble, I have a point...Taco Bell is killing me softly.  I did a little research and was blown away by what I discovered related to my Taco Bell relationship.  Let me break-it down for you:

Recommended daily nutrition intake for a 25-50 year old Male:
Calories:  2,700
Fat:  88g
Sodium:  2,300mg

A Big Mac and medium fries:
Calories:  920 (34% of daily intake)
Fat:  48g (55% of daily intake)
Sodium:  1,390mg (60% of daily intake)

2 Beef Meximelts, 1 Chicken Quesedilla, 1 Cheesy Gordita Crunch, 1 Beefy Crunch Burrito, and 1 Nachos and Cheese:
Calories:  2,430 (90% of daily intake)
Fat:  127g (144% of daily intake)
Sodium:  5,190mg (226% of daily intake)

That is ridiculous.  It has to stop.  I have vowed to only allow myself this indulgence once a month.  It will be hard...it's been a long, tumultuous relationship...but I think I can do it.  I put a post-it note in my wallet with these statistics as a friendly reminder.  Perhaps I should have a picture of the "grim reaper" on it as well...

I Saw the Sign...

A few days ago, I was listening to Sirius satellite radio on my way home from work, when "The Sign" by Ace of Base began to play.  Without skipping a beat, I reached for the volume button and...turned it up.  Just after I did this...I paused, and realized that I actually, with a smile on my face, turned-up the volume on this Ace of Base song.

Most people would've changed channels as this song was considered "uncool" and "for chicks", but as many of you know, I tend to have a penchant for these types of songs (when I'm not jamming to Insane Clown Posse, of course).  As I continued down I-96, I started to reminisce about the funny fact that I purchased this CD (generation check, mp3's did not exist) from my best friend's 11-year old sister...I was 16.  If anyone at high school knew I did that, it would've been deemed social suicide...but I digress.

I guess it's stories like this that earned me the name "Cheesy Chaz"...

Setting A Bad Example...

I do not consider myself to be an overly political guy.  I believe in independence, a free-market, and personal responsibility.  Much of the political chatter these days continues to be on balancing the budget through budget cuts and taxation.  I'm not going to give my extended opinion on this as I don't intend for this blog to be driven by political propaganda...but, I will say this...I consider myself to be an extremely fiscally responsible individual.  I work hard during the week, I earn a living, I save a larger than average percentage of my salary, and I don't spend outside of my means.

I started to dig deeper into US's fiscal responsibility in order to better understand it.  Most of you know that our national debt continues to grow, but what you may not understand (I sure didn't), is that all the banter back and forth from our elected politicians on the topic of budget cuts, really becomes insurmountable in the big picture.  Here's a financial breakdown I found that shows the US Budget, simplified down to a level we can understand as a "household budget" (removing 8 zeroes from each figure):

U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent [April] budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Budget cuts: $385

Wow!  Looks like the US has a lot of credit card debt.  Not to mention, those budget cuts sure don't seem that great...that's like me cutting out Starbucks for a year.  This really makes me wonder what's going on in D.C.  I don't think "fiscal responsibility" is on the radar...but perhaps I'm stating the obvious.

Grocery Store Blues...

Grocery shopping is a wonderful time to be entertained by people...here are a couple of my favorite:

• The person who stands right in front of the item that you need...starring, completely obstructing your ability to make it an efficient grocery trip, probably thinking..."do I go with the generic, store brand version of mac 'n cheese or do I stick with Kraft...the generic will save me $.17 cents...I wonder if it tastes better...?"  You get the picture.  And I know they're thinking this because that's what I think.  I just do my thinking next to my cart and out of the way of other shoppers.
• The mom with three kids who are completely hyper-active and bouncing off the wall...uncontrollable.  You then look in her grocery cart and see nothing but Fun Dip, Candy Bars, and Mountain Dew...and then it all makes sense.
• The person that doesn't realize you are supposed to "take a number" at the deli counter.  They stand there yapping on their phone or doing God knows what, while the person behind the counter continues to rattle-off numbers to help those who are waiting.  They finally realize what is going on after about 5 minutes, get pissed off (probably not so much at the fact that they just wasted 5 minutes but rather because they look stupid) and proceed to make a scene.
• The Health Expert is the person who spends 5 minutes reading the nutrition content on the label.  I always wonder if they really know what they are looking at and why it takes 5 minutes to do so.

These are just a few of my favorite...I know there are more.  Can you think of any?