Blog

Blog

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

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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How to plan for yearly bills

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  Recently, I had a number of large bills come due at the same time. My web hosting service (that contains this site) came due, and I always renew for as long a time as possible (to get the best … Read More … Read More

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The benefits of anxiety while flying

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  For the past few years, I’ve flown over 25,000 miles each year, a respectable distance. With such a experience, you would think that I would have no problems with anxiety while flying. You would be wrong. But I consider … Read More … Read More

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NEXUS is inconsistently awesome: a report on flying to Canada

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  I’ve written before about NEXUS and how much of a good deal it is for most people who fly on any regular basis. To recap: $50 and an interview (and your eyeballs scanned) will get you expedited security and … Read More … Read More

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What are your ulterior motives?

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  In my post on affiliate links, I talked about how it has always felt important to me to keep this site non-commercial, and have all commercial intentions on other sites. (This is an evolving viewpoint, and part of me … Read More … Read More

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Affiliate links, or can you trust anyone online?

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  A little while back, I wrote a post where I mentioned AwardWallet, a service that keeps tracks of all your different loyalty accounts (airline miles, hotel points, etc.) I’m a huge fan of AwardWallet, and have used them for … Read More … Read More

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How Ebola made me rethink responsibility (and flu shots)

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  Sooooo, heard about any infectious diseases recently that have a non-zero mortality rate and no cure? You guessed it: It’s flu season again! … Read More

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