When I was in school, I absolutely loved math until I reached calculus in the 12th grade. Numbers have always made sense to me. Addition and subtraction in elementary school were a breeze. Then when I was introduced to multiplication, division, fractions and decimals my mind was blown. Algebra intuitively made sense to me. I…
The Facts Don’t Matter
I was listening to Morgan Housel’s podcast last week when he talked about people making decisions based on emotions vs. reason. Although he was speaking about decisions regarding finances, spending, investing and lifestyle inflation, I drew immediate parallels regarding almost every decision people make. He said, “When someone makes a decision based on emotions you…
It Is Never Just Me
There are many times when I wonder, “Am I the only person who is thinking this?“ And so on. We could all add a dozen more examples. But this post isn’t about me listing my frustrations with other people. It is about me thinking, “Doesn’t anybody else see this?” What I have learned is that…
Counting Errors
The Covid pandemic taught me a lesson about big numbers – you should not rely on them without validating the source of the data. When you dig just a little bit deeper behind the numbers, you will often discover the numbers are estimates, extrapolations from a small sample size, attributed erroneously as “hard data” and…
Simple Luxuries
When I was 20, I was working part-time as a minimum wage lifeguard while attending community college at night while still living rent free in my mother’s home. I had no car, no health insurance, no degree, no good job prospects and no savings. Still, I made the best of my situation by filling my…
“Every Time I Hear You I Feel A Little Bit Dumber”
Credit to Nikki Haley for this brilliant line directed toward Vivek Ramaswamy during the Republican Presidential debates. Regardless of the content of their debates, she nailed this one. A few weeks later, I was, once again, searching for interesting podcasts. I’m no longer interested in most of Rogan’s guests, nor his rants on politics, wokeness, CNN,…
At Arm’s Length
Since my wife passed away a little over 5 years ago, I’ve received many invitations from friends (both new and old) for social outings, parties, trips, clubs, and events. I’m flattered every time someone thinks enough of me to extend an invitation. With few exceptions, I decline all of them. The first year, I couldn’t…
Drugs And Daylight Savings Time
When I was a kid, I loved when Daylight Savings Time arrived every Spring. In Pittsburgh, our winters were long, gray and dreary with no sun for weeks on end but plenty of snow, ice, salt and slush covering everything. And then, just when it seemed like winter would never end, sometime around Easter we’d…
Podcasters Are The Latest Life Coaches
I listen to a lot of podcasts. A few are well known, professionally produced and backed by marketing & support from the NYTimes, Vox, Spotify, Amazon, Apple, etc. Others are less popular, but still somewhat mainstream and supported by ads and/or subscriptions. And finally, I often search for niche podcasts that cater to topics like…
Mind Purging
The primary reason that I continue blogging, after more than 5 years and 1400 posts, is because it helps me sort out my thoughts. On several occasions when I stopped blogging (after my wife died and when I felt apathetic about blogging), I thought I would continue writing offline, but for some reason, it wasn’t…