2015 AMSOIL Update

If I get 7 posts in the next few days or weeks, that gets my average to a post a year for the past 7 years, which is much better than ZERO posts for 7 years :)

I got a call the other day from Sam about my AMSOIL business.  Since my last post on AMSOIL was in fact over EIGHT YEARS AGO, an update is certainly in order.

The Bad News

As many times as I have intended to, I have not become any more active with my AMSOIL business.  I read the monthly magazine to keep up on new products and potential customers.  I also keep in touch with the business accounts I have that sell AMSOIL.  I do have a couple of great ideas to grow the business both short-term and long-term but thus far they have remained only that - ideas.

I also helped a downline dealer work an AMSOIL corporate booth in Kansas City a few months ago.  Although it was certainly not as productive as previous events (where the dealers pay to have a booth), it was good experience for us both and got me thinking more about the business again.

The Good News

Despite my lack of effort in the business, my income has remained remarkably stable, mainly due to my business accounts (mechanics and service stations) and downline dealers.  Average monthly income has stayed in the $200-300 range.  If I would bother to increase my group sales 50%, my income would likely increase 100-200%, but as I mentioned in the previous post, I have so far lacked the motivation to do so.

AMSOIL remains a great company with great products, constantly innovating to improve the range of product offerings.  The fact that my income has not dropped over 8 years of neglect is a testament to the quality and "stickiness" of the AMSOIL product line.  Compare that to my NuSkin/Pharmanex business (now mostly purchases for myself, wife, and father-in-law), where 90%+ of customer sales and profits have disappeared over the same time frame, and you can see why I much prefer AMSOIL's model in network marketing / MLM for generating true passive income.  See - I don't completely hate passive income!

I'm baaaack...and a passive income hater :)

Sorry for the 7 year hiatus.  If anyone was ever following this blog, I bet they aren't after 7 years!  I can't believe it has been so long...time flies when you are having fun, I guess - and as you get older...  I don't have a good excuse (are any excuses really "good"?); I have simply been distracted by other things.

Obviously some things have changed for me over the past 7 years, but many of the most important things remain constant (church, wife, family).

I suppose the biggest reason that I stopped writing so much was a waning enthusiasm for purely passive income.  "Heresy!" you say.  Well, hear me out:

Why my enthusiasm for passive income has waned

1)  Lack of motivation for more money

First, my wife and I have a very comfortable income, and I lack the motivation to become really wealthy.  If we had more income - passive or active - it would not change our way of life significantly.  (Although we might take more unpaid vacation if our work allowed it.)  I enjoy saving & investing, so additional funds would largely go there and to the church. These are all worthy activities but not enough to cause me to lust after additional income.

2)  Active income is better than I thought

Second, active income provides more flexibility down the road. Mark Ford (aka Michael Masterson) talks about this a fair amount after his two attempts at retirement.  Passive income can be lost - interest rates dropping kill your income from the bank, you lose network marketing customers and dealers as they pursue the "next big thing," etc, etc.  Actively working for income keeps your skills sharp (and improving) in a particular field, which is useful if you want to do part-time consulting or if you need to find work to provide additional income for whatever reason.

3)  Working is better than I thought

Finally - and probably most importantly - I now believe that "work" is a significant component of a healthy life.  I think the typical American ideal of retirement - stop working and hit the golf course or simply laze about - is very unhealthy.  Work provides social interaction, purpose (if you are doing it right!), and mind & body benefits (again, if you are doing it right!).  Work can be unpaid; a lot of retirees I know do a lot of volunteering, which can provide all of the benefits mentioned above.  But I think even volunteer work should take advantage of the specifics skills and talents people have - my experience is that many organizations just use volunteers for "busy work."

I understand the urge to just be "done" with work.  I have had that urge.  Sometimes a lot.  Ideally, work is something you enjoy.  No, not every second, but you should generally feel good about the work that you do and enjoy it.  I also understand that many people work in jobs they hate just to make a living.  My question is - why do they hate that job?  If their boss is abusive or coworkers are vindictive, then try and get a new job.  But I think many people hate their jobs just because they are jobs.  If those people worked to do the best possible job they could and worked to make their workplace pleasant for coworkers, customers, etc, then I think their jobs would be much more fulfilling.

I reached this conclusion over time, so I don't expect anyone who looks forward to that day when they "stop working" to agree with me right away.  I still have one pair of grandparents living, and they used to travel a lot when they first retired (and my grandfather downhill skied into his 70s), but for the past decade or so I think most of their time was spent watching TV.  They have declined fairly quickly in this time with a lack of socializing, movement, and purpose.  I don't think they see anything wrong in what they have been doing, but it has been sad for me to watch.

If you are going to retire and simply stop working, please find something else productive to fill your time, therefore adding value to others and keeping your mind and body in shape.

More soon

That's all for now.  I will soon provide updates on AMSOIL and blog monetization - just keep in mind my waning enthusiasm noted above!

Tankless Water Heaters - Advantages and Disadvantages

For those of you interested in the bottom line on tankless water heaters, here it is. The complete story follows this list.

Advantages:

• Definitely saves on natural gas - we use 50-75% less gas. As gas prices have increased, that is worth $14-22 per month.
• You never run out of hot water - if you take showers back-to-back (at the same time does not work so well - see the disadvantages)

Disadvantages (or at least things to consider):

• Installation is very expensive - probably as much as the unit. I recommend having someone local do it all, so you can get service when necessary.
• You can only heat so much water at once - usually 4-5 gpm depending on the temperature of the incoming water. This may be enough to run a shower and something else at the same time, but don't count on it.
• Electric units my require an upgrade to your electrical system (they take a lot of power). Natural gas units require large piping all the way to the unit.
• If you lose electricity, you lose hot water. Even the gas unit requires electricity to run the fan and controls.
• More moving parts means more things to go wrong (and fewer people around to work on them). It has certainly made me appreciate the simple tank water heaters.

The Story

My wife and I live in a 4-plex (all 1-bedroom units) that we own. We are fixing up & living in the bottom two while renting out the top two.

We bought it a little over a year ago, and the water heater was 25-30 years old (gotta love those Rheemglass Fury water heaters). It was also a 40-gallon water heater trying to serve 4 bathrooms while having the additional disadvantage of being seriously corroded by very hard water.

So we decided to take advantage of the tax credits that expired last year to put in a Takagi T-K3 tankless water heater - I figured we should spend about 1/2 as much on water heating, and have "endless" hot water. That is, we could take as many showers as we wanted back-to-back (not at the same time. The previous water heater lasted barely over one shower.

Of course, I searched on the internet for the best price I could find and bought one to install myself. Little did I know what I was getting into...

Installation Location

I had planned to install it in the same place the previous water heater had been - in the middle of the basement, venting into the chimney. After reading the manual (and talking to a plumber), I realized I could not vent it into the chimney unless I lined it or bought a special stainless steel vent to run all the way to the top. Considering this vent material cost about $20/foot, I quickly decided against that.

The plumber informed me that they are best installed on an exterior wall, with the special vent piping running straight up and out. Of course that would require about a 6" hole through the wood at the top of the basement wall. I did not really want to tackle that myself...

Installation Cost

I got a quote from the plumber to install it - $800-$900 including the vent materials. That's more than I paid for the heater!

I ended up spending almost $200 for the vent piping and $100-200 to cut the hole and install the sleeve through the wall. Add in some money for the additional 3/4" black gas piping we had to run, and there is probably $400 in materials. Plus my labor to install.

Definitely more work than I had planned on...

Operation

We had some immediate operational problems that took a long time to resolve. They ended up being my fault (mostly).

Do not install an "excess flow" or "safety" gas valve in the natural gas piping! These valves are designed to stop flow in the case of a hose breaking - when the flow rate gets too high. Guess what - at max burn on the water heater, the flowrate was too high, and the valve shut the gas off. Weeee! Cold water!

Once we resolved that, we dealt with really smelly exhaust (I could smell it on the other side of the house when the water heater was on). It ended up being an easy gas manifold pressure adjustment. Except for the fact that I had to buy an $85 digital manometer to make the adjustment.

After that, we had a continous fan noise. Tech support again walked me through what to do, and I found a piece of packing styrofoam in the fan. Not a huge deal, but annoying.

Most recently, we had a REALLY loud noise periodically (and eventually got an error code). Did I mention that the water heater stopped working late at night when I tenant was trying to shower? Again, weeee - cold water! Turned out this was because of dirty combustion (and incorrect manifold pressures). We still are not sure if it is because of the wrong pressures (and therefore bad combustion) or acidic condensate in the exhaust dripping back into the burner and heat exchanger. I guess we will find out...

Conclusions

Definitely know what you are getting into before switiching to a tankless water heater - I didn't.

If I were doing it all over again, I would get a unit from a local plumber and have him install it, or just get the 50-gallon tank water heater with the best insulation I could find.

It hasn't been bad to work on, but I like hands-on things. I also like now having the knowledge to fix a number of things on my own. At the same time, I like things to work the way they are supposed to.

I will keep you updated on any future issues with the unit. Otherwise, I am just looking forward to enjoying some natural gas savings!

What is your purpose?

What is my purpose? What am I here to do? I think most of us have have asked ourselves (or God) these questions at one time or another. I admittedly envy the people who have a great answer for this question...

Your Calling

One of the ideas that was rediscovered during the Reformation was the idea of "vocation" or "calling." You see - only those in the Roman Catholic Church had a calling - priests, monks, nuns, etc. were called by God, and everyone else was not.

But in truth we are each called (by God) to do the best we can in the various roles we have in life. Are you a father, mother, husband, wife, sister, brother, son, daughter, homemaker, employee, etc?

Each of these is a calling - something that we are called to do to the best of our ability.

How different would the world be if each of us tried to be the best husband, father, or employee we could be?

Would jobs be better if owners and bosses tried to be the best owner or boss they could? What if all employees were the best employees they could be?

Most people dislike their jobs or at least have many things they would rather be doing. It shouldn't be this way. That job is one of your callings - one of your vocations. You should do it to the best of your ability (even if you aspire to other things).

If you are the best employee you can be in your current role, do you think that improves your chaces of getting a better job down the road? I do. Even if your goal is (as mine was) to get away from being an employee, that's no excuse for being the best employee you can as long as you are in that vocation.

Confessions of a Dishonest Employee

OK - confession time for me:

I was not a perfect employee. Office supplies ended up at my house. I spent time on the clock taking care of personal business.

Of course, nearly everyone does this, so it's OK, right? Wrong? Stealing is stealing. Period. It took me being able to look at this situation from the outside to figure this out.

If your wife called and said your daughter needed a red pencil for a homework assignment - could you bring one from the office, what do you do?

Now imagine that the office supplies are sold in a store at your office - the pencil is $0.10 and the petty cash box is open with noone around. Would you take a dime and use it to buy a red pencil?

The situations are effectively the same, but most people answer those two questions differently (I know I used to).

I was looking at accepting a job offer recently, and I realized a lot of the things I had done wrong in my last job, and I was thinking about how to avoid them in my new job. Would I have been perfect? No. But I like to think that I would have been a lot better and thought about my actions more thoroughly.

Vocation and Family

I really think we have lost the idea of vocation in the family.

Never before have men been so quick to abandon their roles as husband and father.

Never before have women been so quick to abandon their callings as wife and mother.

We have not taken our family vocations seriously, and this cannot help but spread outside the home as well.

To overgeneralize:

• Kids have a lot less respect for their parents than they used to.
• Husbands and wives have a lot less repect for their roles (and marriage in general) than they used to.
• CEOs have less repect for their employees than they used to.
• Employees have less respect for their bosses than they used to.

I fear that "pride in your work" and "doing your best" has been replaced with "what's in it for me" and "it's my right".

Instead of maximizing what we get, we should be maximizing what we give. The rewards follow (or maybe they don't - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it).

Most things I have done in my life were done selfishly. I need to start doing more for others - taking others into account in my decisions.

And not pretending like I am doing things for others by stealing a red pencil for my daughter either...

So, What's Your Point?

That's a great question - I guess I want each of us to take more pride in our various roles in life. I know I need to do this - especially in my role as husband and son (no kids yet).

And I'm not sure everyone thinks about this. I didn't think about it much until recently, and I don't think many of us do.

These little (or big) actions slide under the radar of our conscience:

• Got too much change back at Albertson's and didn't say anything? Congratulations you stole from Albertson's. (Though if you are like me you are quick to go to customer service if you are shorted change!)
• Put 5-1/2 gallons in your "5-gallon" water refill? Congratulations - you stole water from Wal-mart. (Ask me how I know about this one - just figured that out a few weeks ago!)
• Live with your giflfriend before marriage? "Everyone does it." Increasingly true but still adultery.
• Gossip about someone at work? Congratulations - you just broke the 8th Commandment (the one we never talk about).

We need to take our actions seriously. Everyone else (including God) does.

Your True Purpose

Your purpose is to perform your best in the roles you are already in.

Even if you are meant to do bigger and better things down the road, that does not excuse you from doing the best you can now.

I think we all know people that never became great in the eyes of the world but had a profound impact on many people simply by being the best mother, teacher, grandmother, or friend that they could. Always ready with a smile and a helping hand...

If each of us could be like that in each of our callings, I like to think that the world would be a much better place.