Episode-1837- Listener Calls for 7-28-16
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If you don’t design your life, a maze maker will design one for you.
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- Training an “off hand shooter”
- A LEO speaks on division, and I have a potential solution
- The uses of compost tea and comfrey tea in the garden
- Is there any such thing as a good “electric knife sharpener”
- Advice for a norther boy (yankee) moving south
- Dealing with a grass incursion into a brick patio
- Does “premium oil” or synthetic make sense
- A successful exit from “the system” by a listener
- Regulation vs. law enforcement they are not the same thing
- Thought on the Farmbot, and an interesting challenge
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- Weeding Torch
- Life’s Been Good – Joe Walsh
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Jack, I use the Accusharp for tools and knives. What are your thoughts on it, I have had good luck with it.
https://www.amazon.com/AccuSharp-1-001-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00004VWKQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1469743888&sr=1-6&keywords=knife+sharpener
You may not like this but in my view in a single word,
Junk
You’d get the same quality edge dragging the blade on the sidewalk.
Guess I’ll have to have some professionally sharpened to compare 🙂
I also have the Accusharp unit. I agree with Jack, that it has no place anywhere near a quality knife. It does a fine job of straightening up the edge on my grill scrapers. ( I do a little catering on the side.) It also is suitable for sharpening a garden hoe. (Doesn’t hurt my feelings to leave it out in the garden all summer.)
I have seen what a good steel in the hands of a skilled knife-man can do. Unfortunately that ain’t me. I needed some kind of aid, and since I mostly deal with kitchen knives, settled on this unit:
http://tinyurl.com/hkvxq6f
It is expensive, but it gets the job done. The diamond hone is for initial edge shaping, while the ceramic wheels do an excellent job of keeping the edge in tip-top condition. All with an almost foolproof guide system.
I finish up with a ceramic rod system: http://tinyurl.com/gosvjk9 (which I keep over my kitchen cutting board.
It looks like it hones the blade, not sharpening it by removing material.
I’ve found that using a ceramic sharpening stick works better than a steel for maintaining an edge. Most of my kitchen knives haven’t been sharpened in years. Of course the ones my wife uses (and doesn’t let me know she did)
I found this works better than anything else. I get them at smokey mountain knife works when I go to the mountains. You can order them online for a couple bucks. https://www.smkw.com/tennessee-big-stick-ceramic-sharpening-rod
Hey jack
Don’t know if it’s just me, you, or stitcher (most likely them) but it seems like episodes aren’t getting pushed to stitcher until athe least a day after you publish them.
Joe
It’s not just you.
There is no way for me to control that.
No wonder your usership/forum participation/MSB is shrinking…..
Try giving a damn.
What would you like me to do, pray about it, call the Great Pumpkin and ask him to make it work?
Seriously there is NOTING that I can do to make it go faster or work better. My feed is optimized for services like Sticher, that is the LIMIT to what I CAN DO.
Do you think if I cared harder that technology would change?
And what makes you think MSB is down? Seriously, how would you know my numbers in my business?
See this is the type of shit I have to deal with and then some people think I am a dick. A guy brings me an issue, “stitcher takes a long time to get your latest episode”, I give a 10000000% honest answer, “there is nothing I can do about it”, and said guy mouths off about me not caring enough.
Again what should I do Joe? Lie to you and say I will see what I can do about it? Act like Bill Clinton and disingenuously say, “I feel your pain”?
Mislead you to believe that Sticher gives the flying square root of fuck all about what I want?
Do you know how sticher works? They monitor this feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/survivalpcast the ONLY THING I CAN DO IS PROVIDE THAT FEED.
When I publish the show I always check the feed to be sure it is updated, if it isn’t I resync it, that happens about one time a month. Other than that there is nothing I can do, so JOE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME A COMFORTING LIE?
Damn it Joe why isn’t there more money in my wallet. If you cared more I’d be rich.
4 rights make a circle
Indeed
Love the point on eye dominance when it comes to how you shoot. My wife is right handed but left eye dominate. It took us a long time to figure out she should be shooting left handed. Now she is better than I am.
I was laughing my butt off on the eye dominance thing. Who knew???
When I was in basic training in 1988, I couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with my M-16.. I was so bad I was in danger of being recycled. Then the day before qualification, I was nervous as hell, dreading the idea of having to be recycled, my drill sergeant finally figured out why I was so bad, I was shooting on my right shoulder but looking through the sites with my left eye. Fixed that, and I did just fine.
I can shoot ambidextrous. I’m left handed but right eye dominant. Handguns I just learned to shoot right handed. Rifles I was in basic training and was shooting left handed but hated the brass flying in my face then just learned how to shoot right handed.
Yo Jack I did the sharpness test…I have several unused brand new knives on my shelf..a Mora, an Opinel, a CRKT, a Gerber….I found only my Opinel is truly sharp..thanks for sharing this.
The idea of a public rating system for all police interactions is a good one Jack. One thing that might go a long way to mitigating the problem of someone just complaining because they got a ticket might be to have all the police wearing body cameras and then include all dash and body cam data along with the interaction review. If the guy was friendly, polite, and just doing his job the fact that the person is just pissed for getting a ticket would be apparent. You could also allow witnesses to provide feedback as well. One problem with this is the same problem you have with other online reviews, those who have a bad experience seem to be much more likely to take the time to go and write a review than those who had a good experience or even less likely are those that just had an average experience.
Based on your review of the accusharp I may already know your answer but on the off chance you haven’t tried this one I have been looking at it for awhile and most find it ok and it gets good amazon reviews…..
Anyway have you tried the worksharp Ken Onion edition?
https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-WSKTS-KO-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00EJ9CQKA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1469917063&sr=8-4&keywords=worksharp+guided+sharpening+system
Jack –
Wow, I haven’t heard that Alice Cooper song since I was a kid… but oh yes, very appropriate :-). The extra income in exchange for that year I believe was worth it, but FINALLY being able to take this step and leave the corporate BS behind feels really good. The anxiety of the unknown is very real, but thus far pales in comparison to the previous stress of an outwardly stable but stagnant and unfulfilling corporate job. Already some of my extra weight is starting to burn away! Again, thanks for being a source of inspiration.
(For those who wonder how it was done, hitting that savings goal required both my wife and I working full-time, making do with my wife’s 10-year-old car as the only family vehicle after my car died, our family of 4 living in a lame 2-bedroom apartment, cooking at home and bringing lunch to work more than 95% of the time, maxing our tax-deferred 401k contributions, and ultimately having a savings rate well over 50% of our combined GROSS income. Quite a bit of sacrifice involved, but not impossible. If we can do it, others can too…)
Jack,
The internal conversation of “good for them” vs. ” must be nice” is very telling. I notice the difference in folks when I go back to PA. I also notice people at work who are envious of the owner’s and owners’ children at the privately held company where I work. Others, usually the more successful, view the owners as equals, who put their capital at risk and are gaining wealth through hard work and risk.
Life is not a zero sum game. No one who has wealth through hard work, inheritance, etc, limits the ability of others to do the same, in fact, they often provide the foundation for others to build their own independence.
Dealing with a grass incursion into a brick patio
Something that I have used on my patio is, boiling water. It will cook the plant, it’s root and some seeds. It is not perfect but does deaden the ground for a little while. It is safer for the environment, but comes with its own issues of possibly hurting you if you spill on yourself or others(Be careful). Weigh out the pros and cons for yourself.
Yep. That’s how the Weed Dragon works too. The goal isn’t to burn the plant; the goal is to use the heat to wilt leaves and destroy roots’ ability to feed the plant.
We use our Weed Dragon on our gravel lane, fence rows, and stuff that grows right up by the foundation. I think we paid $60 for ours when we bought it back in maybe 2010, and we have ours hooked up to a 20lb propane cylinder that’s on a dolly. And for those of you who’re worried about unitaskers, it also works great for lighting dud fireworks. 🙂
Not an electric sharpener, but what’s your thoughts on the Lansky Sharpening System? Ever tried it? http://amzn.to/2apNtz5
Going debt free is awesome. Was debt free before I walked to freedom where I ended up with a mortgage but you should see peoples faces when they find out I used less then 1/2 the amount the bank said I could use to buy the place and am making 3x monthly payment until the Mortgage is gone the only Debt I have. It is really nice being in the place
In most cases synthetic oil will outperform conventional oils. The problems Jack’s had back in the early 70′ with seal leaks were solved with newer formulations. Today we have formulated synthetic oils that run cooler, last longer and increase fuel economy. I haven’t seen many applications where synthetic oil didn’t help increase performance as well as overall economy. Yes they are more expensive upfront, but long term they will save money.
I’ve got some customers with Chevy Vans that have 700-800 miles on original engines and transmissions running synthetic oil at 25,000 mile oil change intervals.
At 1:20 or so you were taking about pyramid schemes and lumping them in with legitimate direct sales business opportunities. Then going on to say that they don’t work because:
1. It ruins family relationships
2. A majority of people lose money
Jack I know your an open minded guy and is Network Marketing Perfect? No, what is perfect? But to lump ALL of Network Marketing companies and business opportunities together as bad isn’t fair.
I’ll address the only two points that you have a problem with.
1. Friends and Family, if you are involved with a legitimate company with legitimate products that provide Value for Value exchange (where I have heard that before?) and not just a pyramid compensation. A company that has products and services that are sold to the public then as you say the “free market” will sort it out. I would guess that many of your listeners today may use products that are sold by these types of companies.
If you are involved with a legitimate business opportunity you shouldn’t have to hound friends and family. But introducing someone you know or are related to to your product and service what’s wrong with that. You tell friends and family and a nice beer, or a good recipe, or a product you use and enjoy (like your Amazon items)
I see the problem is that the folks that are involved don’t know when to quit. Just like anything new, there is a learning curve to be in business. What if you started a microgreens business and contacted all your friends and family to buy from you but they said no, then you kept on and kept on would you not have the same thing happen as far as ostracizing those people?
2. People don’t make money. Can’t this be said for a majority of business startups or a majority of people that invest or go to college or play the lottery or what have you. How many people sign up in these companies that don’t take it serious? How many people quit before they become successful? You can take the statistic that 99% don’t make any money, well shit when they haven’t gotten off their ass to #GSD and treat it like a real business what do you thin the outcome would be. If it is a legitimate opportunity it is a real business.
Some of these companies have been around for 50-60 years. There are hundreds if not thousands of network marketing opportunities available today around the world. Are they all great? Probably a vast majority suck, it’s up to the individual to seek out and the free market to sort out what makes a good business opportunity.
I didn’t write this to get into an argument or anything. I would just wish for you to be open minded enough to see that maybe at least some business opportunities out there are legit and can provide a great investment as well as an education for someone who desires to be an entrepreneur that can get started with low upfront cost, a great support group and have an opportunity to succeed if they desire.
Besides earning money from an opportunity can it not also be used as a educational process just like college or internship or work study program where someone can learn business, marketing, sales, customer service, relationship building, accounting / tax planning etc that any entrepreneur would need to have. So even if they didn’t make a dime, but learned all those things would be a whole lot less expensive than a 4 year degree.
I support all entrepreneurs and want everyone that desires to free themselves financially in whatever endeavor they choose.
I’m proud of you Jack for your successes with The Survival Podcast. I hope that you also be proud of me for mine.
@Michael, in a single word response I can just say BULLSHIT!
I know more about MLM likely than you ever will. From my bio,
“In 1999 Spirko created a company known as ProvideTechnology, the company is primarily a reseller of telecommunications services. The company continues to operate simply as a group of websites today. During this period Spirko’s primary business was via a company known as Cognigen Networks, (today part of Telarus, Inc.) during this time Spirko was a national trainer for Cognigen and wrote the companies training manual for its 200,000 plus global agents.”
Cognigen worked because it didn’t require recruiting and you didn’t sell the opportunity. In the end it was doomed due to its space (land line phone service). But a lot of people did well for 15 years in the company which became after that the number one reseller of TI and other Data services on planet earth.
It was still rife with some hucksters that took it over and tried to leverage the MLM component. In that time I also worked in several other MLM type companeis including SOC and Trivita, both had unique advantages. In Cognigen I reached the top of their comp plan, in SOC one away before quitting and the same with Trivita. I know where of I speak.
In the end it is all the same, fundamentally flawed. Every “level” you put into something the more you erode the margin and distribute it across thinning profits for all involved. This either leads to
1. Excessive mark up disguised with some bullshit like “nutritional patents” or “the only one of its kind” nonsense.
2. Low profits for direct sales making people that actually sell product basically waste their time when with a direct contract with a similar product they would make a lot more money.
3. Mandatory purchase requirements to funnel money into a flawed system to create the illusion of success.
4. The number one product being feel good information about how to become a success in a flawed system.
5. Most likely a combination of all or three of the above.
The model I understand completely and when you call an MLM a “direct sales opportunity”, in Paul Wheaton’s words, “noooooo, that’s just marketing”.
The entire concept is crap, to truly understand the model what I did was take a series of REAL WORLD HARD NUMBER PRODUCTS and subject them to various MLM payment schemes. Binary, unilevel, stair step break away, etc. they all fail miserably against the direct and two step markets that dominate the primary market for all consumer products, service, consumable, hard goods, it doesn’t matter, the model is a failure.
I will also add the only two companies that have actually achieved a true main stream brand recognition in this space are
Avon
Amway
Avon is run in a way that actually does encourage sales. It sort of works but anyone successful in it would likely do better in a true venture they owned.
Amway was so stigmatized they changed their name to Quixtar domestically to hide who they really were. When the largest player in an industry hides its own name after taking DECADES to build it, it says all one needs to know about a sector.
I mean an equivalent would be Apple turning its domestic brand to “US Tech” or some such thing and hiding that it is really Apple.
Thanks for reply.
The #3. problem is pricing compared to traditional distribution models is understandable.
Though I think somewhat partially flawed, as many MLM companies use money that would be used for advertising and paying sales people that goes to the compensation of the distributors.
While I agree that many companies shade numbers because they count the required auto-ship as part of sales number which I also agree is flawed. I do believe that anyone in any type of sales should use their own products to require it “monthly” is wrong, I can only have so many bars of soap in my house.
Interesting that Ben F. and I had a conversation about you a couple years ago. I didn’t know that you were involved with Cognigen and that it was a MLM even if it didn’t require recruiting.
Back to #3. to me, this doesn’t make sense in a free market. Again, value for value exchange and someone not just distributors see any product or service for the value that it brings to them. You can go to Walmart and buy ground beef or you can get higher quality grass fed, it’s all food. Some people feel the value of the higher quality and others don’t.
Recently a friend invited me to a “gold buying” seminar. I’ve been purchasing precious metal since before 2008. I thought why would I pay twice the price (on a per oz) for something that’s embedded in a card etc. While yes it’s higher, there are other companies that are not MLM that are selling a similar product (gold embedded in a card) for higher prices. (I’m not involved with the company). Prior to the seminar I was 100% biased against it, who would pay more for a commodity? After understanding the value they presented on why they are doing what they do I’m less judgmental than I was before. Am I going to pay twice the price for gold, when I can go down to my local shop and just buy it, no but at least now I’m open minded to others that want to.
As far as knowing more about MLM that I ever will, I love that you are egotistical, a lot like me btw. That’s probably why I like you so much.
I use many products from MLM that I value and gladly exchange my money for their products in companies that I’m not involved with only as a customer. I’m sure that many in your audience also use those products regardless of the cost of “compensation plan”
If you could regarding your past experiences in the said companies what dollar value would you put on them as far as training in marketing, sales, and everything that you have to show for today?
Well you will love this than, thank you.
Thank you for trying to talk around the issue and absolutely proving my point correct.
As to the training value, MLM taught me what not to do, what I brought to Cognigen was completely anti MLM, which is why it worked for so many. Sadly though the problem was still margins. Making 6% on something you could easily obtain a direct contract to sell for 25%, is well, dumb.
The only thing I got of real value from MLM was SEO knowledge which I acquired largely on my own so that I could sell an MLM product in a non MLM way. Hence, MLM was not necessary for that to occur.
It is a completely economically flawed model. It is also the case that you don’t own shit! These companies can and do change the deal whenever they see fit.
As to this, “Am I going to pay twice the price for gold, when I can go down to my local shop and just buy it, no but at least now I’m open minded to others that want to. ”
Okay go look in the mirror and say that to yourself seriously three times in a row and let the real meaning sink in!
In other words I am okay with others being ripped off, if they believe in a dream enough to want to be ripped off!
Go soul search that statement! I am not putting you down personally but this statement shows the poisoning of the mind MLM causes.
Would you be okay with your fucking mom spending her ssi on that program? If not why are you okay with anyone doing it?
Not seeing how I was talking around the point.
Point #1. products of value that people (not distributors want to purchase) whether I agree with those or not
Point #2. You don’t own it, well that can be said with just about any business. You don’t own the ground your own, try not paying your taxes. All franchises work the same way. The market is changing you might have the best horse shit scooping business in the world, but when we quit driving wagons that went out and many other business.
The key is to be adaptable, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, regardless if it’s a job, a business, or even a farm product. One event could wipe you out.
I think we could dance around this all day. I do appreciate your time in response.
I don’t see the gold thing as getting ripped off.
Here is a kinebar (nonmlm) https://suissegold.com/product/1-gram-ubs-kinebar-gold-bullion-bar-999-9-fine?cat=254&page=1
Looks like $87.61. is this a rip off? To me maybe but there is someone out there buying. This was my point of the gold thing.
So you would be okay with your Mom spending her ssi on it?
And yes grams of gold like that are a fucking rip off no matter who sells them. They tend not to sell very well, unless wrapped in a dream. Some buy them as novelties, or what have you, but man, talk about a shitty way to scam people out of money, putting shit like that on an auto order and tell two friends who tell to friends and getting people to hotel ra ra shit. Wow, again I think it is a sickness, one I had at one time.
FWIW I don’t look down on you for it, Ben you mention is one of my true friends, I am happy for both of you, but Ben and I have a rule, he doesn’t ever try to convince me of anything about MLM. It is easy for him, as he knows, I already know everything he would ever say.
“FWIW I don’t look down on you for it, Ben you mention is one of my true friends, I am happy for both of you, but Ben and I have a rule, he doesn’t ever try to convince me of anything about MLM. It is easy for him, as he knows, I already know everything he would ever say.”
This sounds like a good idea Jack!
We’ll call it quits then.