Ah! I have saddened the hearts of my fans!

Ardent and casual.

I've been reading George S. Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon for the last few days. Since I returned from the early 19th century, in fact.

Alas, the batteries I found for my camera were not fresh, so I have no new pictures to regale you with. When I get some good batteries I'll show you the hook I made at the blacksmith shop. What a wonderful character that guy is! He has the unlikely name of Dave Hanson. Revealing which, in Minnesota at least, doesn't constitute an invasion of privacy.

Sadly, that can't be said of the name Al Erkkila. I fear I'm unique. And I've given up propagating the surname, unless one of my daughters does something I'd prefer she didn't.

(I promise to place Love over "prestige" or "face" in my priorities. Not to denigrate either of the latter, but my love for my children will always take precedence over them. Only their concern, or lack thereof, for their own honor could alter that relationship.)

Anyway, Clason: The first rule is one I'm sure you've heard: Pay Yourself First. Or, as one of his early characters says, "A portion of what you earn is yours to keep." What it means is, that you should save at least a tenth of your income. You may invest it, but you may never spend it. You're human, so you may invest it unwisely, but you MUST examine carefully your foolishness and never repeat that mistake.

Clason's wisdom strikes me as quite extraordinary in that it hits the heart of the arguments of the other advisors of wealth creation and management I've been studying. The book I have is 144 pages of elaboration on these basic principles. It cost me 7 bucks. I have no doubt that it will return a million times its cost.

God will bless the Clason estate.