This week was a great week. Why? Because I paid off my $11,000 student loan. After 15 months, I had accumulated $517.45 in interest, and averaged $767.83 a month in payments. For the first time in 4 years, I have no debt to my name, and it feels great.

But I am a nerd and I didn't stop there. Now that I know exactly how much I paid in interest, I, of course, consulted my Quicken to figure out just how much college cost me.

Now there are some out there that could careless, and that's cool. Just stop reading. It's alright. But I find this fascinating and I think in the end it will have a point ;)

For the four years between 6/1/01 and 5/5/05 (plus interest afterwards related to student loan) my expenses were as followed:

• Direct Education: $91,411.09 (tuition, books, fees, educational travel & student loan interest)
• Room or Rent: $16,198.04 (both on and off-campus housing)
• Food: $13,244.59 (board, groceries, and dining out)
• Utilities: $3,984.94 (gas, water, electricity, cell phone)
• Tithe & Non-Profit Giving: $5,030.75
• Other Expenses: $18,802.33 (taxes, travel, auto fuel, etc...)
• Total Expenses: $148,671.84

Holy cow! Direct expenses only relating to my education was $91,411.09, and once you include living expenses like eating and having an apartment/dorm the sum was $148,671.84. Now, lets see how the bills were paid:

• Dividend Income: $70.56
• Savings Interest: $173.08
• Gifts from Others: $2,365.61 (mainly high school graduation & "Charlie's travel gifts")
• Investment Income: $4,4710.44 (GE Stock)
• Mom: $5,341.54 ($5,016.54 was for Summer of '01 and Freshman year)
• Grandma Borgmann Gift: $10,000
• Scholarships: $20,275.00
• Dad: $26,500.25
• Salary Earned from Working During College: $27,698.84
• Grandma Neslund Gift: $40,000
• Total Income: 137,135.32

The income/expense difference was $11,536.42, and after you subtract out $11,000 in student loan and the $517.45 in interest related to the loan, that left a "real college debt" of $18.97.

Now, I could take this is so many different ways, and I am going to try to hit them all.

First of all, it all was worth it. APU prepared me for the real world and my profession better than any university I can imagine. Even at the stark cost of almost $150k (that's a freakin' house in Indiana), it was still worth it.

Second of all, REDACTED FOR SENSITIVITY Which is lesson number two: I am very grateful for all of those who sacrificed for my education and I do not tread lightly on the idea that while I paid more than $40,000 of my own education, there was still $110,000 that came from elsewhere.

My third point is this: debt! Debt sucks. I hate debt probably more than most (hence the reason I have no savings right now besides a 401(k) but I have no debt). But still, the average student leaving college has $19,000 in debt (and if you are in private school like me and my alumni, it is far worse).

Debt when used correctly is a good thing (school, house, etc...). But even when it is a good thing, it is still a bad thing. As talk radio host (and friend of our show) Dave Ramsey says:

Debt is not a tool; it is a method to make banks wealthy, not you. Debt is dumb. Most normal people are just plain broke because they are in debt up to their eyeballs with no hope of help. If you're in debt then you're a slave, in the sense that you do not have the freedom to use your money to help change your family tree. According to a recent USA Today article about debt, 78 percent of baby boomers have mortgage debt, 59 percent have credit card debt, 56 percent have car payments.

The point is, get out of debt as fast as you can. Don't buy into the lie of "good debt."

It was a great four years of college. It was worth the extra 15 months of paying for it, but I am very releaved to be out form under it. I am glad I can now look onto the horizon as I look towards taking my next $140k venture of buying a place ;) (although I am still not sure if that makes sense).

When I was in 8th grade, I was 14. When I was 14, I ran a 5:20 mile. Then I became a Christian, and for some reason had no desire to do sports (don't read too much into that, it had nothing to do with any crazy idea that "sports are wrong"). I have probably run three miles since 8th grade. One in gym in 9th grade, one in gym in 12th grade, and one in Racquetball my freshman year of college.

About a month ago, I found out I was going to Nepal (this ended up falling through and I am going to Nigeria instead). Nepal is where Mt. Everest is. Needless to say, it is hilly. In addition to that, I was going to have to lug camera equipment all through out the Nepalis mountains. So I decided I should go running.

Well I found out I was going to Nigeria and put those plans on hold. But then today I saw my friend Lissa's MySpace page where she said she is working on a running 1.5 miles under 14:30. I thought this was particularly lame, so I commented on it. Then I was inspired to go run my own mile.

Well I made it .6 miles and it took me 5:36. Sheesh! I am exactly 60% the health I was when I was in 8th grade. And when you figure I used to be able to run 5 miles with out walking (or giving up), you could assume that I am actually 12% the health I was (let's split the difference and call it 36%).

I think our spiritual lives are like this as well sometimes. I am ashamed to say that while I was in my running peak in middle school, I was probably at my spiritual peak in high school. I was all the more convicted about that two weeks ago when I did a video interview of Lauren Finlay. I used to have such a fervor for God. I used to do devotions everyday. I used to pray for myself, my friends, and my family constantly. I used to worship at all hours of the day. It is not to say that I never do this stuff anymore, I do; but not like I used to.

Whether it is our physical lives or our spiritual lives, being in shape is important, and it isn't something that just comes from sitting around doing nothing. Today was a day I had to apologize to Lissa for making fun of her, and apologize to God for my own ineptitude.

I don't usually use this blog for things like this, but I came across the most amazing site today: Virb What is it you ask? Simple. A better MySpace. You can check out "my Virb" here.

Now ask any real web programmer out there what they think of MySpace, they will immediately enter into a rant about how crappy it is. But it is a love/hate relationship. Why? Because it is so freakin' popular. People like using it. So it has to add some value. So what are we to do? What is the the Web 2.0 fashion, but still simple enough to use that the average middle school student will get excited. Enter: Virb.

Virb can do anything MySpace can do, and so much more. In addition to that, it is clean and actually very wisely put together (which MySpace is not). If MySpace is Ford Pinto, Virb is a Lexus GS. Sure a Pinto is great if you have no other option for transportation, but wouldn't you rather drive a Lexus if available?

Virb allows users to be highly creative, and for those of us who consider ourselves artists, that is a huge plus. But the creativity doesn't mean flashing gifs, and a whole bunch of other cheesy crap. Like I said, it has a style of a Lexus.

So if it is so great then what's the problem? Simple! It is brand new and nobody is on there. I couldn't find a single friend I knew on the thing, and from my UserID I think there are less than 20,000 members (which is very small). However, Virb just recently started, so I am sure it will gain strength, because of people like you joining.

So go to Virb. Sign up. Ask me as a friend. Then tell everyone you know to kick the "Ford Pinto of the Web," MySpace, to the curb and switch to Virb.

P.S. Don't even get me started on Facebook. While it has its pluses, and might be describe as a Honda Civic in our above analogy, it still ain't no Lexus.

I had quite the lesson in turning the other cheek the other day. We are trying to hire my replacement here at Mount Pisgah. This means that I am doing my first *real* job interview from this side of the interview. We had a candidate (who will stay unnamed) who I decided was not the right fit.

What follows is a response I got back from him after we told him we were no longer interested. And yes, I got this e-mail at 2:30 am on a Wednesday morning, after working a 15-hour day on Sunday, a 12-hour day on Monday, and an 18-hour day on Tuesday! I will warn you, its long. If you are busy, you might want to skip this post.

His first e-mail

Well, Shucks,

I appreciate the chance .
...... Oh! wait you never gave me one!

Well at least i didn't waste my time.
.... Oh wait you did waste two weeks of my time giving me the run around

It seems like you had something going under the table from the start. If [another candidate] was qualified to do this job than I'm a least as good if not better. When we first sat down you made it sound like I was hired. Then I start working with Andy who can't keep up with a phone number and he grinds the whole thing to a halt. I'm not sure what you could have learned about my abilities by now. Andy can barely stop talking about himself for long enough for me to get a word in. It's not like what he does is that great. There's a vidcast tutorial on Final Cut Pro I down-loaded thats produced by a 12 year old. You guy's are going to need a bigger church soon or Andy's head will be too big to fit in it.

I know I'm burning a bridge with this angry rant but right now my wife is crying holding my baby wondering how we're going to pay rent, car payment, the gas bill. I've never come this close do doing something I was so perfect for to have it ripped away so callously. This is just a lesson for the both of you. Please think twice before you dangle some bit of hope in front of someone you consider unworthy. People out here in the real world have hard lives and big responsibilities. You shouldn't thoughtlessly kick someone around for a few weeks because your too cowardly to say what you really think.

Here's an excerpt from Andy's blog about how much money he makes. This was really nice to read after getting your email!

I start to reflect on the topics of most of my conversations with other 20-somethings. I find increasingly that my conversations are on the topic of money, especially regarding the long-term. From the ever so classic, should I buy a place conversation, to 401(k)s, to having my salary deposited directly into a savings account vs. a checking account because I only pay three bills all month (rent, credit card, and tithe) and I could probably make some money on the $2,800 after taxes every month sitting in a 5.05% interest account while I wait to pay my bills. And I think to myself, man the 20s are one sexy time to be alive ;)

Here's me my wife and [son]. We know what working hard and doing the best we can is all about. [Insert picture of him, with his wife and child]

My Response:

I am very sorry you feel this way. Ultimately what it came down to is that I just felt you weren’t qualified to do the job after our conversation on Sunday afternoon. When I asked you what video editing programs you have worked with, you couldn’t produce a name and you said you mainly use “free programs.” I am not trying to sound harsh, but I have worked with a lot of video producers and I have never heard of anyone using a free program. In addition to that, I asked you for examples of your video editing work and you couldn’t produce anything for me. When I applied for my job at Mount Pisgah, I submitted a DVD with 3-hours of work on it, which had over 45 videos.

As far as your personal comments about me, I am going to elect not to respond. With the exception of one: regards to me talking too much, again I am sorry it appeared that way. I will say this, and I hope you read this as helpful as you pursue other job ventures in the future, and you don’t read this as me trying to bash or retaliate as that is not my intention. But one of the other observations I made was that you don’t listen. I really felt I didn’t talk nearly as much as I usually do, and I would try to explain something about how we do something, and before I would finish you would interrupt me. When interviewing for a job in the future, I would highly suggest against doing this.

Again, I hope you read this as helpful constructive criticism, and not a retaliatory bash. In the end, employers don’t have a responsibility to hire anybody they don’t seem fit, and being in talks about a job, does not constitute dangling a job in front of someone. We never promised [an other candidate] a job either, so a comparison to him, really isn’t appropriate in this situation.

I know this probably won’t seem like much, but I will continue to pray for you and your family. I am sorry this venture didn’t work out and I truly hope you find the right job for your skill set.

His Response Back:

What I meant by free was pirated. The work I did was on a PC at least 4 years ago for a less that forthright company which I left for reasons related to that. I've since upgraded the computer. I said i did flash animation and not video. You guys never gave me an idea of what you we looking for. Were you looking for a new Videographer? Or an all-around tech person. I learned to use final cut pro in a couple of hours with free tutorials and would have produced a fine video in no time had I been given the opportunity.

Also, It always seems like people are interrupting when you talk non-stop. Mostly I was trying to get answers - what is it you really need! What projects do you have on the horizon? What's the division of Labor. Since you would barely speak to me on your own I felt it necessary to try to become involved in a conversation.

Next I don't need career advice from a 24 year old. I was working and paying bills when you were living with Mom and Dad and playing video games or what ever. I've started small companies, worked for a corporation with 28,000 employees, produced an entire product catalog, and made countless sales calls. Not that it matters, but I can also play guitar better than you could dream of and was already working on an original score for my video. You new I didn't have video experience from the get go. I told you I had done wed design, music production, power point, photoshop, and flash. If the video part was so crucial why didn't you just say that the first day. When I said I hadn't done video you even said you were willing to train!

My beef is not with the job requirements but with your lack of communication. Why string me along if you're not interested? If i hadn't pushed you you might have drug this out for a month. Oh and I saw your videos on your web page , Big woop! I hope you stay close to the Church because the real world would eat you alive.

Good Luck, [Man’s Name]

P.S. I'm not interested in your reply

Yeah! Good stuff. That's always a pick-me-up right before bed after working 45 hours in 3 days! Anyways, now I am not going to go into all the erroneous claims he made in both his e-mails. If you don't believe that there are erroneous claims, it is alright, it isn't necessary for my observations that follow.

The point is that I obviously feel they were many erroneous claims, of which my gut reaction is to respond to every one of them. And frankly, it took every piece of strength I had not to respond and tell him exactly what I felt. But Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and for once I listened:

Matthew 5:38-40
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

Now I am not writing about this because I am particularly good at this. In fact, I am usually awful at this (just ask anyone I work with or just about anyone who I have a conflict with). At one point, I even prayerfully considered sending him and his wife some money anonymously (I decided not to, which was probably a mistake). And for this one success of turning the other cheek, I can probably count 1000 times when I have failed. But Jesus still tells us we should, and I think He's right. It's a hard lesson to grasp, but it is a good lesson to master (if you can).

(P.S. It should be noted that I am about 98% sure this young man has stopped reading my blog as his IP address has not recently been logged, and this happened a little while ago. So please do not think this is a passive aggressive attempt to "send a message" to him)

Today was a great day in aviation. You had the first A380 landing into ORD - a monumental day. Then...drum roll please...I scheduled my first intro flight!!! Now, I am not sure which is actually a bigger event.

For those of you who read my blog, you will say, "what the heck, I thought you started this back in September." I did. But then I freaked out because I thought I might take a job in San Diego, and decided not to pursue it and pay off my student loan instead. Well, at the end of March, I will officially have paid off my $11,000 student loan (which I'll blog about later when I actually officially pay it off). This frees up about $900 a month, so I decided now is the time to FINALLY do this. After four years of teaching myself everything I could about aviation, the time has finally come, and I am stoked.

Honestly, I would be doing this flight on April 1st if it weren't for my trip to Japan on April 3rd. I get back from Japan on April 14th and on April 18th, I am taking to the skies, my first logable hour in the cockpit. I am hoping I can pass my written and medical exams before my trip to Nepal on June 1st and my trip to LA on June 11th. So then from July to September I'll hit the sky and rack up my 40 hours required by the FAA by visiting friends and family at Hilton Head Island, SC (HXD), Montgomery, AL (1A9), and of course, Huntington, IN (HHG).

I don't really have a point to this blog, and this is a rare post that is really just about what is "happening" in my life. But if I were to make a point, I think it would be this. We all need passions in life or else I think we will drive ourselves nuts. Sure they don’t have to be as expensive as a pilots license, but we need something. For the past two years I have done relatively little besides working very hard. Even my old "interests" (i.e. web production, video production, Bible studies, etc...) have all become my "professional interests," and frankly, as cool as it is to enjoy what you do, I think if I were to reflect I would admit that it has been hard not to have "non-work" interests. Sure I have done a lot of traveling (which is my fav), but at most that takes like 7 weeks out of my year. Leaving 45 weeks to "just work." But that all changes on April 18th. And April 18th changed because of today: a great day in aviation.

P.S. The photo is of me flying over Mt. Everest (in Nepal!!) with my flight simulator. I know I am a nerd.

Recently, three very large instances of hypocrisy were brought to the attention of the citizens of America.

First you have Al Gore winning an Oscar for his movie about Global Warming, but then reports come out that say his pool house uses $500 in natural gas a month (which is more than I spend all year), and his main house uses more electricity in a year than most people do in a month. In addition to that, he flies around in a private jet, and since we all know I am an aviation expert, let me tell you that his private jet uses more fuel in one round trip than most people do all year in their cars (example: one-way from Washington D.C. to San Francisco would burn 3,260 gallons of fuel).

Then you have John Edwards crying, in LBJ fashion, "war on poverty." Yet, this guy lives in the biggest house in his entire county.

And thirdly, you have Ted Haggard. A Christian evangelical leader who on many occasions has spoken out on the immorality of sexual impurity, especially homosexuality, but then it was found out that he himself visited homosexual prostitutes.

Now here is what I am thankful for out of all this: we can finally have a discussion on the lack of value hypocrisy has in relation to an issue.

Lets start with global warming. Now my verdict is still out on global warming. But regarding my global warming doubts, I sort of take a Pascal's Wager approach to the issue (which I will discuss more another day). But here's the issue for today: regardless of Al Gore's personal hypocrisy, it doesn't change the issue at all. Global warming is either true or it isn't. Al Gore's hypocrisy might show a lack of virtue in his character, but it doesn't change the argument. The same is true for John Edwards. The war on poverty is either a good cause or it isn't (it is). But John Edwards living in the biggest house, all while crying we should help the poor, really doesn't change the argument. Same goes for Ted Haggard (and this is what is really going to set people off). Sexual sin is either wrong or it isn't (it is). Ted Haggard's actions show he isn't a man of integrity, but it shouldn't hurt the moral stance.

I often use a financial planner as an example when talking about hypocrisy. Now lets say I visit one and she tells me I need to stay out of debt (except for a mortgage), save 8% a year for retirement starting at age 22, and save another 4% a year in general savings. I later find out through the grapevine that she herself has $80,000 of consumer debt, and doesn't save for retirement. Now, I could react and say, what an idiot, I am not listening to anything she said. But the only person this would be hurting is me because while she is a hypocrite, her advice is still valid.

I fully admit I am a hypocrite. Just reading this blog will tell you that (particularly the porn blogs). But this doesn't mean that my moral stance on this issue is wrong, it just means that I lack integrity. And while I strive and try so freaking hard sometimes to live up to it, sometimes, I fall short.

What I am thankful for is God. He has established a moral law that is absolute. He (not us) has determined what is and isn't morally correct. And our actions do not change what is and is not true. But yet He tells those who believe in Him to strive to their very best to live up to this. But He, in His infinite love and wisdom, knows full well we aren't going to live up to it. So He chooses to forgive us when we ask Him to. This doesn't excuse our actions. And it sure as heck doesn't give us an excuse to be a hypocrite. But I am definitely grateful for that grace; and so should Gore, Edwards and Haggard.

(P.S. I am really not trying to rip on the democratic party with this post. As I have posted before, I definitely don't think being a Christian means you are by default a republican).

Life is a funny thing sometimes. So many unbelievably good things happen to us and we just forget about them. Yet when something bad happens, it seems to be lodged in our brains for years to come. When I was editing a video the past couple of weeks, I came across some old video footage. To watch, click the play button below (duration: 1:15)



I almost cried when I got done watching that (which I know you are thinking, what a girl, but you had to be there). But this is why this is sad. This footage was taken just outside the Capital in the South African city of Pretoria. I was there in July of 2004 (which is actually their winter hence the snow cap). Keegan, my teammate, was from Kenya. Keegan and I would always rag on each other. I would make socially unacceptable stereotypes about Kenyans (i.e. they eat bugs, etc...) and he would make socially unacceptable stereotypes about Indianians (we are all farming hicks). Good time was had by all.

Well then one day we are in Pretoria and there is this really long lawn out in front of their Capital. So I turn to him and say, today's the day Keegan, we are going to solve who is faster: a white guy from Indiana or a Kenyan. Now Kenyan's are known for their running, so you think, well duh, the Kenyan. But not today.

I won. But it was tough. And we laughed for at least the next two hours as we jammed 15 people in a van that probably should only of held 11.

But this is what sucks. After those couple of hours, I forgot all about that moment. In fact, until I found this video footage, I hadn't thought another second about it. If anything, the South Africa trip was by far the worst mission trip I ever took (out of five), and most of my feelings towards that trip are somewhat negative.

This is probably just one in probably thousands of memories that I haven't thought much about, but where so beautiful.

Tim McGraw has a song called "My Next Thirty Years." The song has these lines:

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years

Well I am not 30 yet, but I am 24. And as I think about it, I hope my next 24 years will be years where more often than not I forget the bad times, while the good times do not go forgotten.

P.S. Props to Bryan Taylor for great camera work. What can I say, a little shakey but at least you got the rule of thirds somewhat down. ;) Now you are a double threat: you can drum for Gwen Stefani and you can be my video assistant.