I didn’t die last month deep frying turkeys. I know you were kinda worried, so I wanted to make sure you knew. Risking life and limb for a juicier turkey seems an odd decision, but it’s a very good example of asymmetry – there was a very high chance of a nice little win (delicious turkey) […]
The Perils of Asymmetry Read More »
Happy New Year everyone! As I look around the ol’ blogosphere, I see outstanding year-end summaries and incredibly detailed goals laid out for 2017. Sadly you won’t find that here. As much as I love you guys, I’d rather spend the day playing with my kids. But as I’m on a Cal Ripken, Jr.-like streak
My Single Goal for 2017 Read More »
I hope everyone is about to enjoy a very relaxing holiday. I’m right there with you, but there will be one small window where relaxation will be no friend of mine. I’ll be the most focused, alert, and vigilant I’ve been all year when I’m deep frying a turkey for Christmas dinner. Six years ago,
Life Hack for the Holidays: Deep Fry a Turkey Read More »
A few years ago I took a trip with my eldest son to Washington D.C. I had hoped for a 1:1 trip with him as soon as he was old enough to really enjoy the experience, so when he hit Kindergarten, we pulled the trigger. It was one of the greatest trips of my life.
TGIF: Travel Adventures (and Happy Holidays) Read More »
My grandmom had a good rule for Christmas gifting in her later years: don’t buy me anything I can’t eat, drink, or rub on my body (settle down, this was my grandmom). In other words, consumables. Her house was bursting with crap, so this was a good rule. And it also kept costs under control,
My Guide to Christmas Gift Giving Read More »
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Mine was fabulous, as it involved me spending several incredibly relaxing hours with a bunch of naked Japanese dudes. The naked Japanese dudes weren’t the headline – in fact, truth be told, I’d actually prefer them not to have been there at all. But there they were,
TGIF: Healthy Traditions Read More »
I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving! This holiday seems to have evolved a bit from its original “let’s be thankful we’re actually alive and are still (narrowly) avoiding starvation”. Now we eat a week’s worth of food in a meal, start drinking from noon, watch a non-stop football extravaganza, and prepare to spend
Thanksgiving = Giving Thanks Read More »
A lot of folks are heading out of town next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, many a bad thing can happen when you travel, and I’m not talking about the time you have to spend with your relatives. I’m focused on the house you leave behind. I’ll consider various scenarios below, but heeding some
How to Safeguard Your House While Traveling Read More »
I’ve milked this series of financial lessons from my HVAC for all it’s worth, but I thought it’d be particularly appropriate to end it this week with a short lesson on being nice. I had thought about a titillating post on the pros & cons of cheap versus expensive HVAC systems (e.g., SEER 14 versus
The ROI of Being Nice Read More »
A while back, as I sat in my office thinking super deep and awesome thoughts, I happened a glance on a bookshelf with textbooks I’ve gathered over the years. I saw the two books you see pictured here and did a little double-take. For a Friday “Where’s Waldo” exercise, do you see anything interesting about
TGIF: My Problem with Stuff Read More »