A guest post from MJ at DyslexicResearch:

If you’re reading this it means that Grant’s family had their first child and it may tie up his typing hands temporarily.  So please congratulate him and realize that the regular well written, well research programming will return eventually.  In the meantime I have provided Grant with a couple of filler posts if he so chooses to them.  If you don’t know me (MJ) or my blog (dyslexicresearch.blogspot.com) don’t be afraid to click over and peruse my corner of the internet.  It has to do with a dyslexic (me) doing market research (not dyslexia research).

Let me give a little bit of background on Grant and I.  We are both engineers, we both lived together for three years in college, we both consider ourselves entrepreneurs, we both dabble in the markets, and we both live below our means and attempt to be good savers, beyond that we typically see things wildly different.  Think of us as two sides of the same coin.  Grant will tell you he is a conservative, straight forward person and I am a liberal, irritating difficult person (he’s right), yet I appreciate his friendship and opinion greatly.  He is far from close-minded however, and he and I can spar over a given topic for hours.  A lot of my opinions and choices, more specifically financial decisions, were after learning and arguing with Grant.

It is important to have these types of people in your life.  A secret in life is that, ta da, you are not always right and having someone with just as strong a personality as you can be beneficial while also being frustrating.  In college, Grant opened up the world of investing to me, related some of the benefits and regurgitating the most important part of long term investing: the-getting-started-early-part.  For that I have always been grateful.  With a lot of my first purchases, I consulted him, not for a buy it or not answer but just an opinion of the company and continue to do so with current purchases.  (To those who don’t know Grant is an expert in the energy and petroleum markets).

After college he moved to the south side of town while I moved to the center, we are not that far apart actually but distance and the usual other excuses made it hard to keep in contact as regularly as we should.  Hey, we both have our own families to provide for, it happens.  He slowly let me know that he had put together this blog, which I read and liked.  It also served as that phantom nudge for me to do the same and my blog, dyslexic research, was born soon after.  The result has been a return to our college days arguing over a myriad of subjects ranging from politics, money, and markets.  It has kept me sharp, plugged in constantly to the economy, and most importantly renewed a great friendship that is carried on mostly over the internet now-a-days.

If you have a sparring partner in life (other than spouse), keep them involved.  Forgive them for their mistakes, cherish their opposition, punish them when they are wrong or slip up, and thank them for friendship.

General