Gordon Calhoun

Playing monopoly is definitely a viable option if it makes you happy. The best investments in life are those that benefit mental and/or physical health.

That’s why I like the “value” themed ones, like VTV. Those follow indices with companies having a somewhat reasonable price to earnings ratio.

You may enjoy listening to his episode of freakonomics: Please Get Your Noise Out of My Ears

Some people will spend a lot of money to have the benefit of some control over their ambience. Home location choices. Choice to have a personal vehicle vs. public transportation. Purchasing expensive noise cancelling headphones…

My personal history of owning individual stocks has been very disappointing. If you ever decide you want to invest in the equity market, I recommend exchange traded funds (ETFs) that follow an index and have a really low expense ratio. My favorite exchange traded funds are VT, VTI, VTV, VXUS, BND, and BNDX. VBR may be a good one if you ever want exposure to smaller companies.

Mutual funds are another option, similar to ETFs.

I fortuitously moved all my VTI into VTV a couple weeks ago to divest myself of TSLA, and over the past two days have been actively keeping the balance of my 60/40 equities/bonds portfolio by selling a little bit of BND and BNDX to get some more VTV as it sunk. Didn’t need to modify the VXUS portion.

Sure was nice to have those bond portions to assuage the decline.

You might be interested to read Sybil by Schreiber.

Those thoughts definitely enhanced the experience for me.

It’s True!

Could you link to what they said that has you very bothered? So far in this post they seem pretty even-keeled and fun to chat with, but you seem to really have it out for them.

Thanks for the great beta! When it finally comes time for me to retire the ol’ 14 y/o flat-4, I’ll keep your advice in mind.

I wonder if biodegradable packing peanuts would work…I think they’re just starch, probably from corn.

I’d love to build a still someday…

No disputes from me on your assessment. In principle I’m a big fan of EVs as a maturing technology and my only hangup with Tesla is its association with the person who is its CEO and the role he’s chosen to play in US politics.

I’ll gladly champion a vehicle that has incredible efficiency in converting its stored energy into mechanical work, especially when that stored energy came from a source that’s 40-60% thermally efficient (for combustion-based processes) or derived from solar/wind/geothermal/hydro sources and can be partially recuperated via braking. It’s too bad there aren’t more EV options for people who want or need a 3/4 or 1-ton pickup (of which I happen to be a big fan for hauling/towing/plowing).

The one area where I’m still dubious of electric vehicles is in cold climates, although I think I’ve read heat pumps are being used with success. Otherwise, I’d propose a small auxiliary tank (preferably propane, if infrastructure permits) and a “Chinese diesel heater”-type unit be installed simply for cabin heating/defogging. Few energy conversions make me cringe more than that of high-exergy electricity (derived from non-renewables) directly into thermal energy, convenient as it may be for the end user.

Of course, it’d be nice if that combustive heat could be generated from sustainably-harvested hydrogen instead of an extracted hydrocarbon, but at that point, a fuel cell running a heat pump would be even better, with resistive waste heat from the FC an added bonus. But now it all feels a bit Rube Goldbergian…

Anyway, what’s your take on EV use in climates with harsh winters (such as Canada/Alaska/Montana/Wyoming/Minnesota), especially when long range might be needed?

Not to mention the electrical energy stored in their cells has a fairly strong possibility of having been generated by a power plant consuming coal or petroleum.

Teslas don’t run on gasoline.

It runs on them.

Thank you for sharing. You’re a citizen and scholar. I’ll save your message and add those to my queue.

Gosh, the amount of strength life has required from you these past few years is incredible to imagine. I’m glad to hear your treatment is going well and I hope the surgery and recovery are smooth for you. It’s great you’re finally going to get it!

What’s been one of your favorite books so far this year?

Nice! Those sound like really solid plans. Anything with mountains instantly ignites my happy chemicals.

Kicking addiction once and for all. No, I mean it, this will be the year I get my brain back.

Check out The Distracted Mind by Gazzaley and Rosen. As part of their research, they wrote a video game to specifically improve cognitive functions.