T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 41

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #41!

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

 

Finance Articles

Even More Things I No Longer Do Thanks To Financial Freedom (Fates On Fire) – “Financial independence, in general, is all about choice. It is as much about not doing things as it is about relentlessly pursuing all we are impassioned by.”

What Makes A Good Side Hustle? (Retire By 40) – “Even if you don’t need the extra income, it’s nice to set something aside for the rainy days.”

 

Video

This was a no-brainer. On Monday NASA achieved another historic first, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered and controlled flight on another planet.  This momentous event happened a short 118 years after the Wright Brothers did the same on this planet.  As of this writing, the oldest person alive coincidentally is 118 years old and was alive for both of these events.  It happened in one lifespan, albeit a long one.  

Human progress is amazing.

Again I could watch this on loop over and over.  That’s Mars.  

And yesterday they made the second flight, going a few meters higher and performing a few maneuvers.

 

Who’s Inspired Me

Sara Hall.

Hall is a professional distance runner who has competed at the highest level for many years.  But unlike her peers she keeps getting better with age.  Throughout the 2000-teens she kept bringing her marathon time down, culminating in a 2:20:32 in December 2020.  That was the second fastest marathon time ever for an American woman.

Hall is 37!

Needless to say, that’s not the most likely age for someone to do that.  In the post-race interview she said she was hoping for a faster time, but was happy.  Spoken like a true champion who goes out and gets it, there’s always more.  Hall is married to one of the best U.S. marathoners in history, Ryan Hall, so she does get some good spousal support.  And they’re amazing people as well, they have 4 adopted kids from Ethiopia and have started the Hall Steps Foundation, a charity to help care for the 4-5 million orphaned children and 60,000 children living on the streets in Ethiopia. 

Hall reminds me that age is just a number, and that’s inspirational.

 

What I’m Grateful For

The return of some of my cycling group rides.  For my fitness life, 2020 was the year of long solo rides and runs.  While I’m proud that I was able to push through the mental toughness and loneliness of long solo workouts and still ride over 5400 miles and run over 400 miles, I’m over it.  Two local bike shops are back to sponsoring their official group rides and others will be following soon.  Good times are here again.  Amen. 

 

Lyrically Speaking

Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race

From “Synchronicity II” by The Police

I promised I’d still highlight famous bands in Lyrically Speaking, and the Police are just that.  When their final album Synchronicity was released in June of 1983 they were arguably the biggest band in the world.  By early 1984 they went on a hiatus after a massive world tour, and eventually broke up. 

Synchronicity came out at a time in my adolescence when the importance of music as a life-changing art form was revealing itself to me.  I was so blessed to have some of the most important albums in rock history come out during that time.  Synchronicity is one of those albums and is on my desert island list.

The four lines above from Synchronicity II hit a chord with me back in the day.  I saw my Dad and other Dads in my neighborhood slowly having their humanity worn down by suicidal commutes to and from difficult and thankless jobs.  Like me many of you are still working from home due to the pandemic.  I will do everything to keep that situation going forward.

 

Miscellaneous

My Life Without Sugar – “My plan was to have a sugar-free month – but now I feel so much better that I can’t imagine going back”

The Road From Rome – “The fall of the Roman Empire wasn’t a tragedy for civilization. It was a lucky break for humanity as a whole”

Can Blood from Young People Slow Aging? Silicon Valley Has Bet Billions It Will

Severe Obesity Raises Risk of Covid-19 Hospitalization and Death, Study Finds (possible paywall) – “As BMI rose, so did the risk, the CDC found.”