You too can learn a lot from a dummy

You can learn a lot about someone if you ask them the following question: If you could come back as anyone in history, who would it be? I was asked this once in high school in a Denny's restaurant by some girl who thought she was philosophical. I guess she was pretty smart cuz I am now talking about it 17 years later. But my answer to her at that time and to that question for 10 years after that was either, Parley P Pratt or one of the Beastie Boys. Parley was a neat man, someone who I aspire to emulate and the Beastie Boys always seemed to have so much fun, fighting for their right to Par-Tay and all.





But over the years my affinity for the Beasties has definitely declined. I still like Parley Pratt, enough to name one of my children Parly, but I have other idols too. Have you ever heard someone speak and almost everything they say just rings true to you? That is how I feel about Clark Howard.



I put a link up to him on my Blog because I have no life and Clark, Ben, and Steve U were the only links I could think of. But after selling his chain of travel agencies in 1987, Clark retired a millionaire at 32 years old. Soon after retirement he found his second career by accident as he was asked to be a guest on a radio program and give advice on inexpensive travel. Now Clark Howard’s daily show is on more than a hundred radio stations across the United States. Every day from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM Mountain Time Clark gives advice on everything from saving money to not getting ripped off. He is a self-proclaimed cheap skate who is prouder of his cheap clothes and cellular service than of being a millionaire. After being introduced to his program while traveling back and forth from Las Vegas I realized that Clark and I were probably separated at birth or something. Aside from the fact that I am barely a thousander and he is a millionaire we are a lot alike. There is nothing better for me than to save money. I love to get the best deal I can on everything from phone or internet service to clothes to travel deals. If I go to Disneyland and pay less than everyone else I enjoy myself so much more. The best lunch I ever had was the one where I used a coupon, the food just tastes better that way. I love to be cheap, what can I say. Good for me, bad for my wife.