Category: Life 2021
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Dealing with and maybe profiting from inflation
Last July, I wrote about inflation as it seemed to be back. Six months later we can definitely say that it’s back, with prices up about seven percent compared to a year ago. Certain goods and services are a lot more expensive, generally the stuff you need every day like food, gasoline and shelter. What’s…
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Religion likely killed Jerry
Jerry (not his real name) is dead. Jerry, age about seventy, died recently of covid-19. Jerry could have been vaccinated but chose not to be. Jerry is also the first person I know personally to die needlessly of covid-19. With 800,000 deaths you would think I would know some others, and perhaps I do. I…
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Up your game with an N95 mask
So I’ve taken to wearing an N95 mask. I don’t use it all the time, obviously, but I do when I’m out (or rather indoors) with the rabble. I wore it yesterday in the pet food store and also at the Costco. At the latter, I surreally saw quite a number of unmasked patrons. I’m…
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Traveling in the age of covid
We’re leaving New York City after three days of playing tourist. It’s my first trip away from home since the pandemic began. It’s been interesting to see how much has changed for tourists in the age of covid, which turns out to be quite a lot. In NYC there are definitely privileges associated with being…
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Who wants to be a two million dollar-aire?
I’ve been watching our net worth. It’s just a number and an inexact number at that. Your real net worth isn’t known until you are dead and your estate is settled. There are lots of vagaries when calculating your net worth, such as the value of your house, cars and other possessions. I use the…
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Pandemic cruising … again
Is it crazy to cruise during a pandemic? Maybe, but for me our planned December cruise now officially booked is not our first pandemic cruise. There was also our theme cruise in March 2020. We were on a ship that was literally one of the last ones let back into the United States before cruising…
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I am deeply grateful to those who solved our covid-19 pandemic
We went out for dinner the other day. This is not exactly a first since the pandemic, but the difference this time was that we dined indoors. All three of us (this includes my daughter, who paid a quick visit) were fully immunized, all with the Moderna vaccine. With the mask mandate guidance lifted, even…
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Cryptocurrencies and true financial value
Until recently you could buy a Tesla with BitCoin. Elon Musk though recently changed his mind because it was an environmentally unfriendly currency, since newer mined BitCoins are mined using tons of servers, many of which use electricity generated by fossil fuels. So Musk is going toward more environmentally benign cryptocurrencies. There’s a lot of…
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Getting half way back to before
A year ago this week we were scrambling to find masks. So was everyone else, which meant what masks there were had been largely spoken for. Overnight people began constructing their own masks, if they were lucky enough to find material, had a pattern and had a sewing machine or a set of steady hands.…
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Buddy, can you spare some vaccine?
Basically, I’m waiting to be let out of home confinement. Okay, I’m not actually confined. I can leave any time I want to, but do I want to? Yes I do, but practically I can’t. Going anywhere in the covid age entails risk, but a lot less risk if you are inoculated against the covid…
Occam's Razor 