T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 63

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #63!

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

Financial Independence/Retirement Articles

Appreciate What You Have While You Have It (One Frugal Girl) – “How far have you come from where you were a few years ago, last week, or even yesterday?”

Hustle Or Hassle? (How Much Is That In Tacos?) – “When does a side hustle become more of a hassle than its worth?”

Video

Watch this insane mother effer walk a slackline tied between two hot air balloons 6,000 feet in the sky. People think I’m nuts for ice climbing…

Who’s Inspired Me

Leah Goldstein. 

I’m gonna cheat this week and use Rich Roll’s awesome summation of the amazing life of Leah Goldstein.  After all I discovered her story on his podcast.

After winning the Bantamweight World Kickboxing Championship at just 17 years old, Leah walked away from a bright future in competitive martial arts to join the Israeli Defense Force, becoming a Krav Maga specialist and the first female Elite Commando Instructor before a storied career as an undercover Special Forces intelligence officer.

In yet another dramatic life pivot, Leah then embarked on a professional cycling career. A devastating crash ended her Olympic dreams, her pro career, and nearly her life. After being told she might not walk again and certainly would never race again, Leah remained undaunted, ultimately reinventing herself once again as an ultra-distance cyclist.

In 2021, at age 52 (and entirely plant-based) she became the very first woman in the 39-year history of RAAM—the 3000-mile Race Across America transcontinental cycling race—to beat everyone, including all the men, and outright win the solo division.

Trust me, you have to listen to this episode. This woman is a badass of the first order and even though she’s only 5’2″ I would not care to meet her in a bike race or a back alley. 

And there’s a documentary about her life in the works with a trailer out now.  I can’t wait to see it.

What I’m Grateful For

That the pro bike racing season has started for 2022 with some great races. It’s the only sport I spend any time watching nowadays.

Lyrically Speaking

Don’t have no thing for money
Got no jones for gold
All I got today is some sweet nothing
Nothing to take away

From “Can’t Come Down” by Mark Lanegan

Mark Lanegan came to fame in the 1990’s grunge revolution as the lead singer of Screaming Trees.  The ‘trees were one of the early pioneers of the genre and had 5 albums released before Nirvana launched grunge onto the world scene with “Nevermind” in 1991.  They finally struck gold when “Nearly Lost You” from their 1992 album Sweet Oblivion became a radio staple, but they never reached the level of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice in Chains.  Lanegan went on to a great solo career and even did a stint in the band Queens of the Stone Age.  I always loved his voice, a mix of Tom Waits and Nick Cave, full of whiskey and regret.

The song containing the lyrics above from his 2004 solo album Bubblegum is a cacophony of noise and chaos, as was his life.  His memoir Sing Backwards And Weep is a hard-hitting no holds barred look at a life of drugs and rock stardom from someone who lived it alongside other victims of the era like Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. 

Mark Lanegan died this past Tuesday February 22nd at the age of 57.  R.I.P. and thanks for the music.

Miscellaneous

Obesity in US children increased at an unprecedented rate during the pandemic – “The data shows a profound increase in weight gain for kids that is substantial and alarming.”

Maybe – just maybe – sending billionaires into space isn’t such a bad thing – “The US Army once delivered our mail. If it had continued to stay that way, we probably wouldn’t have the ability now to walk up to an airport with like an hour notice and fly down to Orlando to see Disney World for a few hundred dollars.”

A Complex Life Worth Living: Lessons in Heterodoxy from Mihály Csíkszentmihályi – “That which we call “science” is merely the truth of the moment.”