I was recently on vacation for Thanksgiving. I took a whopping two days off and tacked it onto the long weekend we were given for the holiday. Usually it takes me about a week to decompress from work – even not particularly stressful work (or as not particularly stressful as Ad Agencies can be anyway). In that time I have to remember how to relax and what I enjoy and by the time I do the vacation is over. Continue reading “How Quickly We Forget”
Category: Musings
Inertia: A Dangerously Powerful Force
My cell phone plan increased to $90. Through many sneaky tricks of AT&T my phone bill somehow doubled as a result of me upgrading to the latest iPhone (mistake – I know). As a result I was looking for alternatives. I knew I wanted to switch to Republic Wireless and their $5 – $40 unlimited plans, but was planning to wait until my contract was up in October 2016 and avoid the hundreds of dollars of early termination fees (thanks AT&T). Continue reading “Inertia: A Dangerously Powerful Force”
Sims: How I Beat My Tech Addiction
I’ve always been addicted to Sims. Since Sims 1 came out when I was in middle school it’s been my favorite game. That was 15 years ago. There is just something so fascinating about building (and at times ruining) virtual lives. It was the ultimate sandbox game before Minecraft, and in my opinion is still a worthy competitor despite its focus being different.
Early last year it was announced that Sims 4 would be released that fall. I was ecstatic. I read every rumor and hint I could find about what the new Sims would include. I waited with bated breath until it was released in September…..for PCs. Only. A serious blow. Our fleet of computers are all Mac and I believe Mac has a greater share of personal computers than PCs. And yet Maxis and EA either decided to release PC first or, more likely, did not have the Mac version ready by the launch date. A serious blow. Continue reading “Sims: How I Beat My Tech Addiction”
Promotions: The Biggest Lie in History
My mother taught me another important lesson from her work experience: Promotions have nothing to do with actual work. They have nothing to do with accomplishing tasks and little to do with how effective or pleasant your peers think you are. Promotions are the biggest lie in corporate america and possible in history (yes I’m being a little dramatic). Continue reading “Promotions: The Biggest Lie in History”
Winter Wonderland?
I’ve mentioned before how realizing that the real world is nothing like the movies has been a bit of a shock throughout my life, but in this subject I thought I was more knowledgeable. Winter. When I was young my family took me to a resort in Pennsylvania every year for Christmas to ski. It was fantastic – a ski lodge with nothing but entertainment for a young child and a frozen tundra outside to explore. I would ski down hills that were way too advanced for me while singing Disney songs to keep myself calm. It was a magical time. Continue reading “Winter Wonderland?”
Dietary Musings
I went on a bit of an information binge the other way. We were stuck inside during what was supposed to be a previously unseen snowstorm that caused our Governor to order the transit system to close. I was working from home, but becoming a little starved for new information. So I started watching a few of the documentaries that I had in my Netflix queue. First I watched Food Inc, then Forks Over Knives and then Vegucated. I had unknowingly picked an almost perfect sequence of documentaries. Continue reading “Dietary Musings”
Worry: Past, Present and Future
I’ve noticed that this blog of mine is pretty dominated by worry and anxiety. That seems like a serious change from the other FIRE blogs I’ve read. This might be because I’m going through the initial phases of discovering this goal is possible. The other blogs are all written by people that have it all figured out and have already or are very close to financial independence. Another reason could be that I’m currently writing this just for myself instead of for an audience, which includes a large group of people that do not see FI as viable.A Moral Dilemma: Anti-Consumerism and the Stock Market
I was reading Mr. Money Mustache the other day – about his anti-consumer ideals and alongside it, his promotion of the stock market as a wealth building tool when a strange thought hit me. How could this man critique our consumer lifestyle on one hand and consciously use that same system to make money through the stock market on the other? Continue reading “A Moral Dilemma: Anti-Consumerism and the Stock Market”