Dave Ramsey Back In Th' Day

I was going through some old boxes and what did I see. A little picture of Dave Ramsey looking back at me. I lived in Antioch, TN back in '96 and became a Dave Ramsey-holic. This man has had a bigger positive impact on my life and my future than my own father or any other man I have ever met in person.

I listened and learned. I still do. But, in '96 I subscribed to his Financial Peace Newsletter. This newsletter was a revenue source for The Lampo Group (Dave's company) along with his books, seminars, counseling, etc. But in '96, his company was still very small. These newsletters are full of great information, but not nearly a polished and professional as his materials today. That's why I love looking at them. I have the entire first volume. They are in great shape and you can see from Dave's mug on the front that the newsletter is not the only thing that became more stylish.


I don't think Dave mails out hard copy newletters anymore, which makes having these very special. I love them dearly and they are so special to me. That is why they will never be for sale. But..........they could be bought.

A Literary Attempt at Winning a Seven Cycle Custom Bike

Outside Magazine had a advertisement on a contest to win a $9500 custom bike from Seven Cycles of California. The day before the deadline, I spun off the keyboard the following literary attempt. The essay was to be about why you "deserve" to be the one person to win this bike. Well, I hate the over use and misuse of the word deserve, but I wanted to participate, so below is a draft of what I sent them.

Discaimer:
Normally, I would not use the word “deserve” because it has become a point of contention with me and I feel it is over used, much like the phrase “fixed income” or the term “ADD”. I think of them as BS cop outs for folks that choose not to take on responsibility and happen to things instead of allowing things to happen to them. I usually insert the word “earn” in place of “deserve”, but since the essay dictates we use the word “deserve”, I will be happy to follow the rules and use the word in a context of my choosing.

Disclaimer Two:
The following information is correct and verifiable, but should not be believed to be the truth unless you take the time to validate the facts and statements for yourself or unless you already know them to be so. That being said…What you are about to read probably has grammatical errors but IS true!

Reasons Tarpley Should Be Blessed With The Seven

As a world renowned PDR champion, a former triathlete, a small business owner and advocate for living a debt free life, I can relate to Seven Cycles, their employees and their mission in a number of ways.

I live in Macon , Georgia (think Allman Brothers, Alabama Vest and old ass buildings from 18 something), the pre-season training ground for Abercrombie & Fitch’s Pro Development Cycling Team and home of L.H. Thompson (damn fine stems and posts). It is here that I have not only been introduced to the sport of cycling, but also honed my skills in the art of Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) to the point of being ranked the best in the world.

In 1998, I moved from another southern state to Macon , GA in order to start my little company called Dent Tricks. I chose the city because of its size and geographic relevance to my old college town of Boone , NC and the fact that I had a non-compete contract I needed to abide by. It was in this sleepy backwards city, where I chose to test my entrepreneurial skillz, that I was introduced to the sport of mountain biking. You’d think living in the mountains of NC I would have had mountain biking shoved down my throat, like a rookie on a porn set, but I was busy helping friends grow high altitude agricultural cross pollinated “plants” between classes and trying to learn how to funnel a beer without shooting it from my nose. Obviously I was less interested in building a better body than I was in building a better bong.

Back to living in Macon though…I met some friends that regularly biked on local trails and made weekend trips to Tsali, NC for world class mountain biking. They got me hooked and I bought my first bike ever from a local shop that has grown tremendously thanks in part to a new cycling club called MAX. I purchased a Specialized Stump Jumper and was stoked. I rode it for two years solid and watched my list of friends grow because of it. I was meeting and hanging with friends from teens to seniors and some of the seniors were kicking my ass on the trails. I found out that the hard core mountain bikers were spending about ¼ of their biking time on mountain bikes, but were spending the rest of their time on road bikes. WTF I thought? Come to find out, it really increases your endurance and as serious racers, that is what they needed more than the technical riding for competition.

I couldn’t see the fun in riding a white line for several hours under the blazing sun of Georgia , while staring at someone else’s ass with no whoopty doos or sweet jumps in sight. I just didn’t get it. I did want to increase my endurance though because I have this innate desire to be the best I can at whatever I decide to pursue.

This desire to be good at something is especially strong when it comes to my career. I founded Dent Tricks, a paintless dent removal (PDR) company in 1998. PDR is the art of removing dents from cars by massaging or manipulating the metal back to its original shape without damaging the original paint. It is a craft that takes years to perfect. I have twice (2005 & 2007) been ranked First Place at the International Dent Olympics. Competitors from all over the world compete in this highly specialized competition. Like Seven Cycles, I am not satisfied with pretty good. I want my customers to know they have the best available.

After a couple of years on a mountain bike and some encouragement from the roadies, I stepped up and bought another Specialized. This time it was an Allez road bike. New shoes, new clips, new helmet and now funny shorts. Hey, you wanna fit in right?

So fast forward to today, which is now ironically about seven years later, and I have shaved legs, many triathlon races under my belt and a room of race pictures, finishers medals and dent trophies. The problem is that about two years ago, I met and fell in love with a runner, not a rider. Since I also happen to run, I started doing more of that and less riding. As the time has passed, I have seen less and less of my riding buddies. I only see them at cook outs and parites now. My cycling legs are gone, I have no new stories of dog chases, hill climbs or bonking to contribute and an old bike that weighs about 26 pounds. To say the least, my motivation has waned.

Though it’s not quite fair to call myself an avid rider at the moment, I can proudly say I’m an engaged recreational rider. Amy and I were got engaged on April 26 of 2007. Another interesting twist is that cycling friends introduced us. Justin (former bike shop owner) and his wife Sandra set us up. Unbeknownst to them, Amy at the time was a smoker and had never participated in any type of sports at all. However, since we began dating, Amy (Google “amys running life”) has run the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, several half marathons, many 5 and 10K races...and quit smoking. She is now an athlete. On top of that, she is interested in riding a bike!! There is only one thing holding standing in the way though…money.

Amy and I are on a quest to be debt free, including the house. We both earn a fair amount, but are choosing to put every extra dollar we can scrounge up towards debt reduction. So, vacations, gourmet coffee, Netflix and other luxuries have temporarily been halted. We cut the credit cards up long ago. Only necessities, like transportation, housing, food and import beer make the cut now. We are living like no other….so that someday we can live like no other, as Dave Ramsey would say. We are not living like paupers, only coming out on triple coupon Thursdays, but rather living by a budget and making wise choices with what we do with our money, because we want to start our marriage off right, which by the way will be October 11, 2008. I know, I know, but she is working on her MBA and wants to have that behind her before managing a wedding. Once we are married and debt free, we will both have a bike.

In the meantime, it sure would be nice to have a reason, no excuse, to get back on the road and join the cycling group again. Being a winner of another International contest and riding the hills of Georgia on the prize would carry with it the responsibility and moral obligation to live up to the honor of possessing such a gift. The challenge of riding to the ability of the bike would be made and it would be up to me to meet it. In the eyes of the world and all those riding Seven’s now, I would be expected to be a cyclist again.

The story of Seven Cycles and Troy Tarpley are not that much different. We both began with no reputation and through persistence, successful completion and above average standards rose to be the best in our industries. Seven and Tarpley are not the largest in our chosen fields, but recognize that helps set us apart. I don’t know that anyone “deserves” to have anything given to them for free, but if I won this Seven Elium SG, I would earn it by riding BRAG (Bike Ride Around Georgia) next year, promoting Seven Cycles to our bike club with around 200 members and encouraging my favorite shop to sell them. I think if you’re giving a $9500 bike away you should get a ROI (Return on Investment) and I look forward to being just that….T-roi.

If It Starts With Cancer, Where Does It End?

I have decided to start using the "one stone" method of writing in order to maintain some sense of regularity with my blog. So, anytime I write a letter to the editor of The Telegraph in Macon, I'll post it here too. Sometimes I write in response to another writer and in those cases I may include their letter to better understand the context of mine.

Below is a letter recently published in The Telegraph that may make sense to many people upon first reading it. On the surface it seems good intentioned and written from a sense of caring for others. However, what it comes down to is using the government to take private property from individuals in order to give it to those "more deserving".

The second letter is my respone to the first.


Published June 16, 2007

Blood-related cancer research needs support

In the past 20 years we've seen enormous progress in research and discovery of new treatments for blood-related cancers, particularly in childhood leukemia and some adult blood cancers. Despite this progress, however, the prognosis for many blood cancers remains bleak, with hundreds of thousands of patients facing unnecessary suffering and death.

Our enormous progress is being undermined and could soon be reversed due to inadequate federal funding, just when we need commitment and conviction the most. Over the last four years federal funding for cancer research has been flat or declined as research has become more expensive. Reduced support for cancer research could lead to delays in the development of new screenings and treatments that could help detect cancer early and save lives. Some research groups have already terminated lifesaving clinical trials.

As someone who has seen too many lives lost to blood cancer, I don't understand how anyone would think our country can afford to curb its investment in blood cancer research.
Leaders in Congress say they are committed to funding the fight against cancer, but so far they have given it a lower priority than hundreds of other programs. The House of Representatives proposed a 1.5 percent increase for the National Cancer Institute, the nation's premier cancer research institution, far less than the average 6.4 percent increase for other health and education programs. With the increased costs associated with medical research, that does not even keep pace with last year, let alone the declining budgets of the last few years.

I urge Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, as well as Georgia members of the House of Representatives, to support residents here in Georgia living with blood-related cancer and those who will be diagnosed with the disease by committing to increase funding for cancer research - at a minimum, at the rate of medical inflation.

Simply put: The greater our investment, the more lives we will save.

Dick Brown is executive director of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Georgia Chapter.


Published June 18, 2007

Government not answer to all our problems

Blood-related cancer is a tremendously large health concern in Georgia, the United States and the world. I agree with Dick Brown of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Georgia Chapter, on that and the fact that more research would be great and help move us toward finding a cure that much faster.
However, blood-related cancer is no more important an issue than Alzheimer's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), suicide, heart disease, safe food, good education or secure borders. The problem with the following list is that only secure borders are a constitutional responsibility of government. The other issues are well-intentioned but should not be funded through force by taking hard earned dollars from citizens in the form of taxes. Period.

My feelings on this issue are not without compassion and empathy for those affected with any disease, including cancer, for I have lost family members to cancer and known many others who have had one form or another of the disease. My feelings don't change the fact that it is wrong to take from people what belongs to them, in order to pay for something I want, even if it is in the interest of others.

It is easy to forget people have individual rights that trump communities' (groups of individuals) desires. We live in a nation of law, not mob rule. Just because a community wants something does not mean it has the authority or right to force an individual to forego his or her rights. That would be mob rule, and it is wrong. On top of being sad, it is scary how this nation is willing to ignore or even detest the idea of individualism and individuals' rights, regardless of the reason.
Now, if we want to see more money spent on blood-related cancer research, or any other type of research, we should not push for government (which is well-known for its inability to handle money) to forcibly take more from those who produce. Instead, we should push for government to let American taxpayers keep most of what they earn and at the same time get out of the health-care business altogether.

Governmental regulations, endless paperwork and red tape stifle health-care providers and drive the cost of their services and products to ridiculous levels. If government would get out of the business of health care and let health-care professionals do their jobs, the health-care business and society would be much better off.

Taxpayers could afford to voluntarily donate money to research, and research could be expanded without the permission and regulation of the FDA, thereby finding solutions to cancer of the blood, the prostate, the breast, etc. We have to stop immediately thinking that "government" is the answer to all our problems. Government, more often, is the problem.

Troy Tarpley is a resident of Macon.