A bit of a bummer this weekend. I got news my expensive hobby is raising monthly rates by 40%. I knew it was likely a price change was coming since we just moved to a new facility and they got a bunch of new gear despite not raising prices for years, but damn there’s some serious sticker shock.

Oh well, guess my FIRE number is increasing.

Yes! Just keep consistent and ignore any market swings. This is a marathon.

*When I started investing, I was in the red for the first 6 months. It was nerve wracking and I definitely questioned it, but I stuck with my plan and you can see from my post below how well that’s worked out so far.

I’m personally a full on Boglehead. I think the simpler the better, so I stick with the 3 fund philosophy. If I was starting today, it’d be the 2 fund philosophy since VTWAX/VT was released.

Spreadsheet day! If you asked me how the market was this past month, I would’ve thought we were down. Instead I’m up >3% month over month. I also crossed into the 2 comma club in terms of net worth. This is why I track monthly.

Sometimes the decision makers in the corporate world baffle me. There were layoffs last month at my company. Turns out one of my peers, who was working on the company’s literal highest priority, was one of the chosen ones. Now they are floundering trying to move people around to cover the loss.

I’m probably going to have to cover a second team at work, given I’m one of probably 2 options available. Just absolutely baffled by all this.

At least I just got back from a 2.5 week vacation and had literally wiped my memory of all the insanity that was going on when I left.

…if it identifies a pathway it can claim to be legal

Based on everything else they have done ignoring legality, I have very little faith they won’t just start doing it anyways.

I download books from my library to my kindle. It goes through Amazon though, so I assume I am also impacted by this BS.

Could be, but they would still be required to pass tests to prove their hormones are in the appropriate range, just like cis women have to do when tested for doping with testosterone.

If there’s any real debate to be had, it’s along the lines of male hormones and penises. Should either be present in a place which essentially only exists for the purpose of keeping those things out?

They are. Every sporting governing body I’m aware of requires trans women to be on hormone therapy for a minimum of 2 years before they can compete in the women’s category. This is completely in line with the medical community’s research into how long it takes before the benefits of being biologically male are counteracted by the hormone replacement.

The debate has been had in the medical community and has been resolved. Now random people who never gave a fuck about women’s sports before think they should have input when they have no qualifications, just because they have prejudices.

I no longer buy cereal because it has become way too expensive for the low nutritional/satiety value. Sorry, Kellogg, you’ll have to do better if you want to convince people to eat more cereal.

My 97 year old grandma spent Christmas in the hospital with COVID and congestive heart failure. I’m honestly shocked she isn’t a part of this statistic.

Absolutely, they are both a part of the problem. However the former likely won’t recognize they are a part of the problem because of the unconscious nature of their biases. So they won’t ignore the data because they don’t trust it, or whatever, but they won’t recognize how their actions contribute to it.

In the case of unconscious bias, they probably brush off the data because they don’t believe they are a part of the problem. It’s those other doctors who are overtly racist that are the problem…

Agreed.

I should not know her name. I should not know her intimate personal details.

She should have been able to mourn her loss in private with her loved ones. Not on the national stage as an example. She should not be at risk of prosecution because of this unfortunate situation.

Ehh…I think that’s a little different in that they needed a judge to determine who had the right to make medical decisions for her. The judge themselves weren’t making the call for what should be done, only if it was her husband or parents who had the right to make medical decisions.

This is more along the lines of my appendix is on the verge of bursting. I want it removed. My doctor recommends removal and is willing and able to do so. The govt says I don’t think it’s bad enough yet and if you do it now I will criminally charge you. Wait until it explodes and you are at risk for sepsis before I will allow you to undergo surgery, despite the fact I have zero medical experience.

Imagine having to get a judge to signoff on any other medical procedure, and it really highlights the absurdity.

…this feels a lot like the death panels a certain sect was screeching about back in 2008/2009

This has been a week of learning famous people I had thought were long dead, have in fact been alive…by seeing news articles announcing their deaths.

I drove a rental Chevy Spark around on one trip. The size was fantastic. The engine was crap.

Yep, Mini Coopers are quite popular in my neighborhood. They used to be a dream car for me, but now they are just as big as everything else.

I prefer smaller cars. Every once in a while I browse what’s available in new cars. Every time there are fewer and fewer options in the compact/sub compact category. I guess I’m just going to hope nothing ever happens to my Civic (which is honestly larger than I’d wish) because I don’t know what I’d replace it with.

Of course giant vehicles as a share of sales is going to increase, when that’s 75%+ of what is available to buy.