Over the years I have used a number of Spanish text books. The reasons for the different text books were various, sometimes because it looked better than what I had been using. Sometimes because I hoped it would move me farther than the last.

The 4 books I still have on my shelves I have used but I do not remember why, exactly, I adopted or abandoned each of them.

The first book I believe I bought was the Foreign Service Institute Spanish Basic Course. It came with a box of cassettes that go through each lesson thoroughly. This course was first printed in 1957. The course is designed specifically to train U.S. government agency staff who are involved in foreign affairs and who need to learn to speak Spanish. Although the text and cassette tapes are not designed for individual self-study, they are sold and used this way extensively. I don’t remember how much I paid for the book and tapes, but I hope it was not anywhere near the $200 I see it advertised online.

Barron’s has published this course as Mastering Spanish, Level 1 with Audio CDs. The publisher’s blurb says the new edition “has been updated with new references, and up-to-date vocabulary and idioms.”

The second book that I have is Spanish is Fun, Book A that I purchased for a community education class. This book now appears to be out of print. From the writing in the book it looks like I only got to lesson 4. If I remember, I dropped out of the class because it was so basic and most of the people in the class whose only exposure to Spanish was at Taco Bell. I have considered taking another community ed class but am not sure my Spanish is good enough for the intermediate class, yet don’t want to start with a class at ground zero (or negative 3) again.

The next book I bought, Spanish Now!, I hoped to use to teach two of my teenagers Spanish as I learned along with them. Again, it looks like we made it to lesson 4! Neither of them had any interest and we had a hard time finding a set time we could do the lessons.

The last text book I have is Practical Spanish Grammar by Marcial Prado. So far I have made it to Chapter 7 and hope to make it to the end. Afterwards I plan on using the author’s sequel Advanced Spanish Grammar which is written entirely in Spanish and has good reviews as an intermediate Spanish grammar.

Of course you cannot learn Spanish just by reading some books but those will be the topic of another post.

I have had a desire to learn Spanish for quite some time. I first started trying to learn a number of years ago and picked up enough vocabulary to understand simple sentences but not enough to carry on any kind of conversation. My work brought me into contact with a large number of people who spoke either little or no English. As my ‘job description’ has changed over the years I have not felt the urgency of learning Spanish but the desire has remained.

I have had had probably 6 semesters of Spanish. Problem is they are all first semester. Over and over again.

Possibly, the urge will fade again, but I hope that it does not. I have collected a number of Spanish language resources over the years, some good, some not so good. I also am searching for even better ways to learn and improve my Spanish.

Was in a local shop yesterday morning and saw this sign and had to laugh. It strikes a cord because in our office I am amazed at how few parents are able to control their children. They wander around our office while the parents sit blissfully unaware what their child may be getting in to. Sometimes I think the parents let them wander because they enjoy the quiet moment when they are not having to count to 3 and threaten not to take them for ice cream if they don’t behave.

Everyone gets represented in the Veteran’s Day Parade in West Richland today. If you look at the left side in the back the kids even have their own carts!

Actually this was the entry sponsored by the local Yokes Grocery Store, and the kid’s carts had little flags that said “Customer in Training”.

I just took the GMAC National Drivers Test and scored a 95%. Not too bad. I will concede the one question I got wrong, even though I, personally, have not seen the ‘correct answer’.

According to GMAC, 1 in 11 licensed drivers would fail a written drivers test if taken again today, at least I am not one of them! A driving test would be another matter all together.

Take the test yourself and see how you measure up.

The accounts I opened at ING DIRECT for my 4 kids have been a real success so far! Not only have each of them received the $25 account opening bonus, but so far they have each received an extra $50 in referral bonuses from people using the links to receive their own $25 ING Promo Bonus when they opened an account!

I am hoping that eventually each of them will receive the full $250 in bonus money if all 25 of each of their referrals is used.

Thanks to everyone who has signed up. And if you have not yet, and have an extra $250 that you want to put in savings, then please go use one of their $25 ING Promo links.

Paul Farrel at MarketWatch.com argues that Dilbert creator, Scott Adams, deserved to win the Nobel prize in economics for his ‘Unified Theory of Everything Financial’. Adams’ revealed “everything you need to know about personal investing.” in nine simple points in his book, Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel.

His formula:

1. Make a will
2. Pay off your credit cards
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4. Fund your 401k to the maximum
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7. Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
9. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio

Too simple? Things missing off the list? Sure, but have you taken care of these items in your own personal finances?

HatTip: Scott Adams: In Over My Head

I am always game for free food and Salon Monroe, the Tri-Cities newest beauty salon, was serving wine, appetizers, and chocolates at their grand opening. It is an amazing salon. 32 stations, custom woodwork throughout, and all the trimmings make the salon look great.

The salon is located at 2411 S. Union Street, Suite D in Kennewick, just north of the traffic circle on 27th.

In a recent press release Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler announced a new Web-based tool for consumers, called the annual Complaint Comparison Guide. The guide allows consumers to search online for their auto, health and homeowners company and compare the company’s volume of complaints to other similar companies.

“Consumers deserve to know how their company stacks up,” said Kreidler. “Our Insurance Consumer Hotline receives more than 2,000 calls a week from consumers with questions about their insurance. While not all calls result in formal complaints, knowing how your company rates before your buy or renew coverage can give you peace of mind.”

A Complaint Comparison Guide can be generated for health, private passenger auto and homeowners insurance for the years 2005 on back to 2003. Depending on which line of insurance is selected, a report will be generated which shows the company, the number of complaints, the complaint index, the company’s market share and how much premium it collected.

A complaint index measures the number of consumer complaints for one company in relation to other companies in the same market. A company with a complaint index of 1 has an average number of complaints. A company with a complaint index higher than 1 has more complaints than average.

“Shopping around for insurance pays,” Kreidler added. “The new guide gives consumers one more tool to compare insurance companies. Anyone looking for insurance should do their research. Consider how much coverage you need, how much that coverage will cost, as well as the company’s customer service and financial strength before you buy a policy.”

The most useful piece of information is the ‘Complaint Index’ that measures the complaint ratio for one company in relation to other companies. A complaint index of 1 means the company has an average number of complaints. A complaint index higher than 1, means the company has more complaints than average and viceversa. One draw back is that most of the companies are divided up into multiple companies, for example Progressive has 7 different entries in the list, all with different ratios.

I received a call today from another insurance agent looking to find an insurance company that would insure a Corbin Sparrow. I had never heard of the thing, so I quickly plopped the term into Google and was surprised at what I saw, a one passenger electric vehicle that appears to be a cross between a motorcycle and a car. It can go 60+ miles on a single charge, can reach speeds of up to 70 mph, and I even saw a photo of it burning rubber!

The web site for the Corbin Sparrow was down but I found a competitor, the NmG by Myers Motors. NmG stands for ‘No more gas’.

“The NmG fits the way Americans use their cars,” said Myers. “Research shows that 87 percent of all commutes are less than 20 miles and 93 percent of those commutes are with one person only in the vehicle.” Also, buying an electric vehicle encourages forward-thinking technologies and using electric powered vehicles can reduce our country’s dependence on off-shore oil and alleviate the problems associated with that dependence, according to Myers.

If your electricity costs you 11 cents per kilowatt, then you will pay about 55 cents to fill up. So, if you get 60 miles to the ‘tank’ it is costing you a penny a mile to drive! 20mpg at $2.50 per gallon works to about 12.5 cents per mile. Plus no oil changes!

They cost about $25,000 which is more than I have set aside right now for a commute-only vehicle. But if I was looking at spending money on a new motorcycle this would give me year-round economy plus a 6-cubic-foot trunk and heater.

From the NmG FAQ:

Is it a car? Is it a motorcycle? What exactly is a Myers Motors NmG?

The NmG is America’s only all-electric, highway-legal, personal vehicle with a maximum speed of 70 mph costing under $25,000. The NmG is a fully enclosed, single passenger vehicle with two front wheels and a single drive wheel in the rear. While it drives like a spunky car with a low center of gravity, the NmG is considered by the U.S. Department of Transportation to be a motorcycle. We call it a PEV, or Personal Electric Vehicle, since it transports only the driver and the labels “car” and “motorcycle” do not fit perfectly.