The first time I played Scrabble was with an old university friend and his wife. They both fancied themselves expert Scrabble players. Both bright and talented folks and lovely people. I won the game and the last word I played was DILDO.

I have never again played Scrabble again since I figured I could never top that. Also they never asked me to play with them again either.

the libertarian pipe dream

At home I have a Fellow Ode Gen 2 which I use with a V60 brewer. At the office I have a Fellow Opus (a decent entry level conical grinder) which I use with a Clever Dripper (an immersion release brewer).

My old hand grinders are the Helor 101 and the Knock Feld2.

Back up cameras and 360 parking detection sensors. Heated and cooled seats. Android Auto with integrated Google Maps. New cars are so much better than my old beater.

Getting nice in-ear monitors with replaceable cables is so much better than wireless for me. Great sound quality and they weak link that always breaks (the wires) is now no longer an issue. I’ve had the same IEM now for 10 years and just change the cables every couple of years.

Higher quality electric coffee grinders. I have been using pretty nice hand grinders for years ($100 to $200 range) and while they were good, the consistency and general quality of life improvement gotten from these nicer electric grinders has made a significant improvement in both the coffee quality and my time/life quality related to making coffee daily.

Deep Space 9; Adventure Time, and Gravity Falls

Time to read Zen again.

Rural southern Georgia: 300m to the only gas station/convenience store in town. 10km to the nearest real supermarket, medical center, pharmacy, tiny library, dentist, and a couple of restaurants. 30km to the nearest big box store (Walmart). 100km to the nearest small regional airport. 120km to train station.

Not starve or be homeless.

Excellent and nice choices! I feel the same way about the Revel F208 speakers I bought a while back. Completely didn’t need them since the Revel F36 were already pretty good but oh was the improvement noticeable. I honestly don’t think I will replace them as long as the are working properly.

It might be helpful to your long term financial health to find out what that is.

Yeah, I can’t argue with that. I try to avoid funds that have significant investment in weapons manufacturers. If a person’s needs require a minimum level social and/or environmental awareness, there are tools in the Fidelity research system that show that kind of thing. This may be limited to specific stocks and not funds though. I can only speak about Fidelity since that is my only point of experience.

I’ve never been on a long (trans ocean) flight with a major airline that charged for water.

I don’t if the flight is long and it is bigger aircraft (two aisles: A350, 787, A380, 777, etc). I try to be up and moving around as much as possible. No booze. Eat light if at all. Drink water.

Don’t get fat. It is so hard to lose weight once you get over 40 years of age because you are fighting a reduced metabolism.

Investing even relatively small amounts of money monthly or weekly into an indexed mutual fund or similar at a young age should result in substantial growth and returns over 30 years or so.

Don’t lend money that you expect to get back.

The Data Mining Polka

Consider that most Americans are pay 2x to 5x more in insurance premiums each month than folks in the 32 other developed nations with national healthcare coverage pay monthly in taxes for health care. Consider that Americans still pay deductibles and copays. Consider that insurance won’t cover pre-existing conditions (which are many). Consider the insurance frequently denies claims and requests for further tests and specialists. Consider that most insurance only works within the limited network of the insurance companies designated healthcare providers.

I work a multinational company that has moved staff from Japan, Canada, and the UK to the USA for periods of work. All of these folks were shocked and horrified by the American insurance system.