The Man Who Lives Without Money

The Man Who Lives Without Money

                I read an article about a guy named Josh Stevens who took a pledge to live without money.  He started six months ago in May by pledging to a company called Groupon that he would live off their Groupons for a full year.  Groupon is a coupon company that basically charges half of what a product is worth.  For example, you pay Groupon $50 for $100 massage.  Then they split the profit with the company that they received the deal from. 

                Six months ago, Josh Stevens was going to enter into business school until an opportunity had a presented itself.  Groupon was offering $100,000 grand prize for a contest that required the participator to live off only Groupons for the year.  They supply him with an unlimited supply of free Groupons as long as he used them as his only form of currency.  This requires some creativity because you can only get Groupons for certain items.  Stevens said that he had to wear a suit made of paper when he started last May because there were no Groupons for real clothes available at the time.  He also mentions that the best way to explore a new city is to get lost, instead of sticking to a plan and only seeing certain sights.  He said that it is one of the most inexpensive ways to see good parts of a city that you would not normally see if you were traveling with money. 

                I think that this is a great idea for someone who doesn’t have a job or responsibilities.  If you have a job, there is no way that you are going to be able to wear a suit made of paper to work.  If you have responsibilities to a family with children or a job you cannot go for a year living on Groupons.  This would be a great experience for a college student or a single person to have.  Personally, I would not try doing this because I do not think that I would be able to handle living on coupons.  We think that it is bad living from paycheck to pay check, well I can about imagine what it must feel like living coupon to coupon.

               

First Draft of my Narrative

Ryan Stenzel

Shiela Allard

Written Communications

7 October 2010

My Grandfather

                My grandfather influenced many people throughout his life.  He touched the hearts of his family and even people outside of our family.  Everyone knew Joe Sheehan by name and reputation.  He would help anyone in need without asking for anything in return.  In my opinion this and his amazing work ethic made him one of the best men I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

                While I was growing up, my mom would sometimes leave me in my grandfather’s care while she went to work.  He would always teach me a lot about vehicles and motorcycle.  He also owned his own lawn care service, which he often let me help with as soon as I got old enough.  He taught me everything that he knew about owning a small business.  He also taught me that family and friends were the most important things in life.  He told me to find a career that I liked, but also make sure that it makes enough time for family.  When I was not being babysat by him, he would be at our house visiting and having a good time.

                Some of the reasons why I think my grandfather was such a great man are his generosity, his work ethic, and his warm heartedness.  He treated everyone that grew up with my aunts and uncles like they were family, even when they turned into adults.  He also would get to know anyone, no matter the circumstances.  Anytime he did work for someone, he would charge very little, if anything at all.  Even when my cousins and I were with him, he would make sure that we all learned something before we parted ways.  Like I said before, he taught me everything he knew about business and family and how they do not need to walk hand-in-hand.  He taught one of my cousins all about farming and how to run his own farm.

                As I got older, my relationship with my grandfather only got stronger.  This all changed when he was diagnosed with esophagus cancer.  He was a smoker for a good portion of his life, but the doctors didn’t think that is what had caused it.  They really didn’t know.  They put him on chemotherapy which just seemed to make him get worse.  He just kept getting thinner and weaker as time went on.  When my family and I would go out to visit him, he was either asleep or incoherent.  He was so heavily medicated that he did not recognize me or anyone in my family for that matter, a lot of the time.  This went on for a while until one day he just didn’t wake up.  This was July 29, 2004.  I got a call at my house from my mom, who had already left to go see him.  She sent our church’s nun to pick me up.  When I arrived at my grandfather’s house, I was not in the greatest situation.  Every time I even tried to look in his direction I would break down.  I realized on that day that my life would never be the same, but then that changed one year later.  My youngest brother was born on July 29, 2005 at around the same time in the morning that my grandfather had died the previous year.  This gave me a whole new perspective on the situation.  I realized that he would always be with my family and I in spirit.

                The long and the short of this story is that my grandfather brought joy to many peoples’ lives.  He was also one of the wisest and most generous men I had ever met.  He was one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing throughout my life.

               

Bomb Threat Article

Bomb Threat

               

I read an article in the Caledonia Argus about a bomb threat that had occurred at the high school.  The police said that a note was found in one of the bathrooms that talked about a bomb being detonated at 3:07 in the afternoon.  The school was evacuated at 2:40 and all of the students were transported to the local elementary school to be put on their correct busses.  The police and fire department searched the building, but did not find anything suspicious.  They brought in a dog that was capable of finding explosives to search the building that evening.  The school canceled all of the athletic events and the parent-teacher conferences for the evening also.

                I think that having the Caledonia Police Department involved in anything that is as serious as this matter.  This is like letting a five year old child look for car bombs in Afghanistan.  I honestly do not believe that they are trained enough to deal with anything like this.  I also believe that the students that currently attend this high school are always just looking to get a day off by doing something such as this.  I really don’t think that any of them would go as far as putting a bomb in the school though.  I know because when I attended the same high school, we were always thinking of crazy ideas to get the rest of the day off.  They might as well just wait until the winter to get a day off because a bomb threat takes this a little too far.  It seems like these kids think that school shootings and bombings are a joke.  The administration needs to take some steps towards educating them on how bad these situations could really be.  If they would show the news reports and the stories about all of the previous school shootings and bombings to these kids, I believe that they would gain a new perspective on the subject.  I would hope that whoever did this realizes that none of this is funny and they need to either grow up, or get some help.