T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 27

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #27!

Here are some things I really like and that you might too. 

Finance Articles

The Space In Between (Live Your Wage) – “If we don’t at least have a rough game plan for what we want to accomplish, we’re significantly reducing our chances of looking back and being amazed at what we actually did.”

The Cashflow Quadrant Explained – How You Earn Income Matters (Coach Carson) – “The Cashflow Quadrant represents the different methods by which income or money is generated … Different methods of income generation require different technical skills, different educational paths, and different types of people.”

Video

Emergency paramedic response in the mountains will soon be assisted by jetsuits.  Yes, jetsuits.  They’re finally coming into their own in 2020.  Check out this amazing video. 

Who’s Inspired Me

Tadej Pogačar.

If you didn’t watch the Tour De France you missed one of the best ones in history.  A 21 year old kid from Slovenia – in his first Tour De France – hung in there doggedly for three weeks and refused to be pushed around by the best cyclists in the world.  He didn’t even have a good team to help him, he was mostly on his own.  On the 20th and penultimate stage of the race, still 57 seconds down, he put in one of the best performances ever in a Tour stage, and stole victory from what everyone thought would be a respectable second place.  He was the second youngest winner ever in 107 iterations of the Tour De France, and we’ll be watching him tear it up for years to come.

What I’m Grateful For

Pro cycling (as you can tell from above).  After being shut down all year like every other sport, pro racing started again in August.  I’ve grown out of watching spectator sports over the years for the most part, except professional cycling.  Nothing spurs me on more to get out there and give my own body a good whoopin’ like watching the best athletes in the world suffer in the hardest races in the world.  On with the Giro d’Italia!

Lyrically Speaking

At night I walk this stinkin’ street past the crazies on my block
And I see the same old faces and I hear that same old talk
And I’m searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine
I’m talkin’ some new kicks, ones like you ain’t never seen
This is home, this is Mean Street
(This is) Yes-ah home, the only one I know

From “Mean Street“, by Van Halen 

In early 1978 Van Halen launched themselves on the national stage with grandiose authority.  Like every other music obsessed kid, I couldn’t quite grasp what I was hearing, I just I knew I wanted more.  I wore out the grooves on their first three albums, but to an East Coast kid in Baltimore City, their L.A. party-rocker image and sound was the distant stuff of Hollywood and glitz.

The “Fair Warning” cover. Dark. Ominous.

In 1981 they released their fourth album, Fair Warning.  I remember seeing it in the store and the cover immediately spoke to me.  It looked ominous and scary, with an image of a street fight.  It looked like Baltimore.

Then I got home and played it.  The first song, “Mean Street”, came pouring out.  That savage opening with the tapping and harmonics.  And then that riff, that burly, crunchy riff comes in and takes you away.  The song sounds like a street fight.  It blew me away, and it’s probably still my favorite VH song to this day. 

A departure from their first three albums, Fair Warning is dark and gloomy.  And for me, a kid who was in a dark and gloomy part of life on the mean streets of Baltimore, it became the soundtrack of my life. 

Eddie Van Halen died on Tuesday at the age of 65.  Not many could say they actually changed music, he was one of them.  RIP Eddie, and thanks for the music.

Miscellaneous

Belly fat linked to early death, study finds – “Excess belly fat is associated with a higher risk of early death from any cause, regardless of how much overall body fat you have, a new study finds.”

The Gig Economy Is Failing. Say Hello to the Hustle Economy – “Unemployed teachers, cooks, dancers are turning to Patreon, Twitch, and OnlyFans”

The Deadliest Marksman’s Cold, Brave Stand – “Eighty years ago this winter, a freezing Finnish farm boy took aim at the unstoppable Red Army — and became the greatest sharpshooter the world has ever seen.”