Ten Things I Think I Think (and Personal Finance Links)

1. I think I’m expecting a slight uptick in posting this week – You may have noticed that Lazy Man and Money was a little thin on content last week. Rest assured, I was still quite busy at work here. A lot of it was following up on comments on MLM Scams of the past posts. They pour in a constant rate.
2. I think those interested in multi-level markerting will like my new website – In addition those comments last week, I also decided to launch MLM Myth, which is designed to cover the basics of MLM scams. This way when a person comes to my blog and says for the 100th time, “Every company is a pyramid scheme”, I have a nice place to link them where that topic has already been discussed and laid to rest. In the short-term, it will be a little work. In the long-term, it will hopefully save me a lot of work and educate a lot of people.
3. I think this is why I get upset at some MLM companies – Here’s one video worth watching: http://www.124marketingsystem.com/capture/davishbc1. This person is promising a retirement in 12 to 24 months. They are boasting a 90% success rate and “no chance of failure” (quick question: what are the other 10%?). Oh and you only have to work 4 hour a month. The opportunity? It’s One24 which I’ve written about before. I don’t know if it’s even been around for 12 months and it certainly hasn’t been around for 24 months, so there’s no possible way to measure the success rate. In any case, it is this kind of pitch that makes it a clear it is a scam. In this case it is common sense, but sometimes they aren’t as over the top with the unrealistic expectations.
4. I think I should explain why I didn’t blog about the wild market swings of last week – I thought about commenting on the wild market swings of last week. Then I figured it was better to just sit back and let it get all the craziness out of its system. I figured the Dow as going to drop to around 9000 or 10,000 creating a buying opportunity for those looking to sell when it is 14,000 in about four years. For people who are long-term investors, there’s not much to see or do, except take advantage of the discount of stocks on sale (if the cash is available).
5. I think you should skip Glee 3D and see Seven Pounds – This weekend I escorted my wife to Glee 3D. I think Glee is just an average show, but it’s my wife’s favorite. This is the price I pay for being able to watch football on Sunday. Men, if you find yourself in the same situation, you’ve got three things to look forward to:
   1) Even with previews and an unrelated short animated film it was 90 minutes (the IMDB 100 minute listing can’t be right.
   2) There’s a really cute Asian toddler featured in the movie. He is in a home video doing the dance movies of one of the cast. Yes, it’s a major highlight.
   3) Britney’s (Heather Morris) dance is the kind of the thing that will make many father’s uncomfortable watching it with their daughters. The rest of the movie is probably G-rated, but these three minutes bordered on PG-13.

   Overall, you’d have been the most hardcore Gleek to enjoy this movie. It was really two things that shouldn’t be combined: concert footage and three stories of Glee fans talking about how Glee changed their lives. The fans don’t even seem to meet cast members. There’s no Mr. Schuester. There’s no Sue Sylvester. Just take Sue’s advice from the commercial, save your money and don’t go.

   On a much darker note, this week’s Netflix brought about Seven Pounds, a Will Smith movie that I wanted to see for some time now. My wife didn’t like it, but I did. It was pretty depressing. It was a movie that gave you and indication of where it was heading, but then had a couple of little twists and and turns. It wasn’t like a Sixth Sense complete change-up, but it was enough to be interesting to me. I ended up appreciating more the next day. I won’t say too much more, because it’s a movie where you don’t want to give too much away.

6. I think that I called the HP Touchpad as Blogging Machine first – Interestingly about a week after I wrote that the HP Touchpad Would be a Great Blogging Machine, ZDNet’s Mobile News guy James Kendrick reviews the HP Touchpad as a portable blogging machine. He even mentioned, “TapNote for the TouchPad is a simple text editor that makes this system work well. It provides me with a blank screen for entry, which allows me to focus on what I want to say and not the vehicle for capturing it. This has turned into a great method for me as it allows my creativity to flow.” That was simimilar to my suggestion of “One of the difficulties I have with blogging is distraction. I could see creating a blogging nook where I could take the Touchpad and keyboard and get down to business. No longer would I be reading the 157th article about how Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco are going to work out in the Patriots locker room.” My back is going to be sore from all the self-patting I’ll be today ;-).
7. I think the New England Patriots Hall of Fame is amazing – Last weekend I got to take in the Patriots Hall of Fame. Amazing doesn’t begin to cover it. My wife hates football and said that it was better than the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown – pretty much considered the gold standard of Hall of Fames.

   They had an interactive exhibit where you can set up a real football on a real tie and punt it at a video screen. You then watch the ball go into the video in a first person view of it going towards the goal posts as if it were a video game. The game lets you simulate Adam Vinatieri’s 45-yard kick at 8:44 in the 2001 Snow Bowl, perhaps the most improbable moment in the New England Patriots’ history. The exhibit was incredible, but there is something amiss with the artificial intelligence in the game. I took 4 attempts. The first time I had a really feeble kick. The next two times, I had kicks that were too high on the screen to register. The fourth kick glided just over the crossbar for a successful kick. It was fourth time I’ve ever tried to attempt any kind of field goal in my life – real or virtual. There’s just no chance that I can kick 45 yard field goals, but I might have to give a shot.

   Oh also while at the Hall of Fame, I got my picture taken with the three championship trophies the Patriots won in the 2000s.

8. I think it’s worth touring Fenway Park for those visiting Boston – As part of this special visit to Boston, I got the official tour of Fenway. If you are from Boston, it’s mostly a snoozefest as you already likely know everything. One cool thing was sitting in the Monster seats, widely considered the best seats in any stadium in baseball.

   A friend was able to get our group a special treat, a viewing of the World Championship trophies in 2004 and 2007. Not under glass or anything, but brought out from their vault for us to take our pictures with.

9. I think that these are some interesting numbers: 5 championships, 1 decade, 2 teams in 24 hours – Those are some of the stats about the pictures and the trophies from the above two points. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to seek out the recent Stanley Cup or the Celtics championship in 2008.
10. I think Heidi Watney turned me into an 8 year old – After the tour of Fenway, my wife and some friends found ourselves with an hour to kill. We decided to go into the Red Sox store. I had noticed a sign saying that before each game they have someone affiliated with the team (a player or coach, but most often the assistant travel secretary, I’m guessing) signing autographs. This day, it was Heidi Watney who happens to be the NESN (Red Sox Network) on the field correspondent. Nationwide, she isn’t well known, locally she’s a bit of a celebrity (hence the signing of autographs). It doesn’t hurt that she looks like a supermodel as you can tell. My wife tried to urge me to go up and get my picture taken with her. I turned a shade of red with embarrassment on even thinking about such a thing. If she weren’t so attractive, there wouldn’t be a line of people waiting. If it were Heather Morris, someone who was really famous and a true celebrity, I would have done it. It just felt more like going up and getting and getting your picture with a model, just because she’s attractive. That said, I do have to say that I respect the work that Ms. Watney does. She asks the players the right questions at the right times. My mechanic does a great job as well and I don’t want my picture with him. Okay, I’m rambling now, let’s get to the links quickly.

Money Writers:

• Digerati Life posts 3 important tips for understanding health insurance details.
• Frugal Dad writes credit card mistakes can be costly.
• Million Dollar Journey shares little-known Canadian benefit programs – IV (veterans).
• Money Smart Life with tips on how to save money on a cruise.
• My Dollar Plan shares the 5 weird bankruptcies declared during the recession.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary blogs 10 largest drops of Dow Jones.

Top PF Posts:

• Free Money Finance shares five ways to grow your career.
• My Journey to Millions asks what is the difference between a subsidized and unsubsidized loan?
• Saving Advice says if it’s online, it can cost you a job.
• Endless Gibberish on how I built a $3,300 emergency fund $25 at a time.
• Len Penzo dot Com posts you can save money faster by turbo-charging your change jar.
• Not Made of Money posts which is better – a fixed rate or variable rate mortgage?
• DINKS Finance with being broke but living life to the fullest.
• Dough Roller posts how to respond to a stock market crash.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter says Costco does generics right.
• Get Rich Slowly presents how to save on your cell phone plan with secret no-contract deals.