Blog

Blog

Musings on personal finance and more. Not written with AI since 2012.

What do people really mean by location independence?

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  A few years ago, I performed a feat of employee jiu jitsu: I was able to convince my boss to let me start working from across the country. Like many people, I first heard about the idea of “location … Read More … Read More

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The problems with charity

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  Ultimately, I think the system of charity, which is hard enough to engage in as it is, is all wrong. The system as it stands right now is: those who have more choose to give to those who have … Read More … Read More

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Why giving to charity is hard

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  You are fortunate. If you are reading this—and I am profiling you now—chances are that you have all of your basics covered (food, shelter, clothing, transportation). You may not be wealthy or buying your own island or anything, but … Read More … Read More

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Can I help you plan a flight?

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  “You could totally make a business out of that.” I was explaining the various details of my upcoming mileage run to my dinner companion. She must have noticed the wildness in my eyes as I talked excitedly about connections, … Read More … Read More

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Does a mileage run ever make sense?

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  I was trying to find a round trip ticket on Alaska Airlines that would end up being more than 6,342 miles round trip. This is difficult. Alaska runs a rather short-haul system, and the longest flight they run is … Read More … Read More

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Reminder: Everyone is a fraud

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  One of my first jobs was working for a (now-defunct) department store. I was assigned to the warehouse, when I would be in charge of retrieving items from the shelves and bringing them to the cashier or to people’s … Read More … Read More

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The burnt toast method of discovering your calling

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  I was working on a project one evening recently, mixing down some tracks from a recording session I had engineered of a friend’s band. (The Famous Haydell Sisters, a comedy country band, are amazing and your life would be … Read More … Read More

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When cultural expectations don’t fit

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  I was at the gym the other day, and as all the machines were pointed toward the TVs, I watched for a little while. Yes, I know this was my first mistake. Actually, the show was quite compelling. It … Read More … Read More

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Is it subversive to repair things?

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  I had the pleasure of stopping by a “repair cafe” this past weekend. A repair cafe is an event that matches up people who can repair things with people who need things repaired. Organized by RepairPDX, a local organization … Read More … Read More

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Christmas is always in December, or why to plan for holidays

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  So, we know that we need to save for yearly bills. Well, we need to save for yearly expenses too. (To those who are new here, welcome! You may be wondering what’s the difference between a Bill and an … Read More … Read More

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