Instead of focusing on the minimum wage, we should focus on the maximum effort.

When I got my first job at age 11, I was paid for the amount of work I did.

The man who owned the local bait shop in my hometown hired me to ride my bike over after school and work a few hours each afternoon doing manual labor, including tending the worm beds and boxing the worms for him to sell to fishermen. The agreement was this: ...

Most teenage boys have visions of being a rock star.

Correction. Visions of being a rock star are what they have when they’re not having visions of cheerleaders.

As a child of the ‘70’s, my rock star idols were longhaired, chain-smoking, whiskey-drinking, 20-somethings who made two guitars, a bass and a set of drums sound like a million dollars. At least that’s what it sounded like to me. My dad said it sounded like noise.

My parents didn’t view these guys the same way ...

Those who know me well know that I am frugal (or downright cheap, as my children put it).

So, imagine my joy when I recently stopped by the discount bread store and discovered a particular type of wheat that normally runs $3.99 in the grocery store on sale for .99 a loaf. I picked up two loaves.

Cashier: “That will be .99 cents, please.”

Me: “Are you sure that’s correct? I have two loaves.”

Cashier: “Yessir, ...

When bottled water first hit the market, I thought it would never sell. After all, only an idiot would pay for something you could get out of the tap.

Well, I was wrong.

According to the International Bottled Water Association, bottled water sales in 2012 totaled $11.8 billion. That was just in 2012. Bottled water has been on the market since the 1980s.

This made me wonder about other items that made no sense on the drawing board, but have succeeded anyway.

The first ...

I miss the days of Velveeta and ripple.

As a younger man, I considered myself a connoisseur of the finer things in life. Used Oldsmobiles, girls who parted their hair like Farrah Fawcett, and the occasional drink.

By occasional, I mean any occasion.

The late ’70’s were about as much like “That ’70s Show” as the ’50’s were like “Happy Days.” However, in the midst of all the manufactured nostalgia, what these two shows portrayed had a grain of truth to it.

We drank ...