T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 71

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #71!

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

Financial Independence/Retirement Articles

Growing up poor (and how it messed with my mind) (Get Rich Slowly) – “The older I get, the more I believe that many of my faulty mental models exist because I grew up poor.“

I’m Bringing Budgets Back (Budgets Are Sexy) – “I, J. Money, have acquired the blog back and am coming out of retirement!!” 

*Dave’s comment – Notice that I featured J.D. Roth and J. Money in this issue, two of the originals in the personal finance and FIRE space.  Both sold their blogs and bought them back, because they’re passionate about this stuff.  It’s like 2013 again, some things never change and in this case that’s a good thing!

Video

It had to be done….  the big question is, can the youth of today (or anyone in our social media deranged anger-culture) handle Beavis and Butthead?  More importantly, will B&B still have the fearless edginess they used to have?  The trailer seems to show they will, 2022 is looking up 🙂

Who’s Inspired Me

Sofiane Sehili. 

Sehili worked incredibly hard over the years to finally get to the point where he could make a living as an athlete.  He established himself as one of the best ultra-endurance cyclists in the world.  Then in 2020 just as he turned pro he had a crash with a vehicle and mangled his knee.  But in 2021 he started his comeback with determination. 

Sehili specializes in long distance bikepacking races such as the Tour Divide, which is going on right now.  The Tour Divide – widely known as the hardest mountain bike race in the world – is one race he’s never won.  It takes at least two weeks for even the fastest finishers to complete.  Sehili is currently leading the race, and a victory in such a brutal race less than 2 years after an injury like his would be nothing short of a miracle.

Sehili’s comeback from injury and progression back to the top has inspired me, and I’ve been thrilled to watch him on Trackleaders in the Tour Divide.  He’s even inspired me to possibly do that race one day 🙂

What I’m Grateful For

That a well-known member of the FIRE community offered to do a collaboration with me.  

Lyrically Speaking

They say money is king of our world
Without a nickel, without a dime
My brother, you’re not worth anybody’s time
Green power—that’s what it takes
Money, you’ve got to make
It’ll make you do things you never would
Forget the things that make you feel so good  

From “Money I$ King” by Lee Fields & The Expressions. 

Regular readers of this section might think I’m a bit stuck on Americana and folk.  While music in those genres does feature prominently in my collection, I do branch out.  One of my secret loves is funk and soul, especially the old classic stuff.  And the past two decades have seen a flurry of amazing artists who have recorded funk and soul records with a painstaking effort to make them sound like they were recorded in the 1970’s.  From Charles Bradley and Michael Kiwanuka, to bands like Orgone and Breakestra, revivalist funk and soul are in good hands. 

Lee Fields, unlike many of the young 20-somethings in the funk revivalist movement first recorded in 1969 and saw some success in the 1970’s.  But disco killed his career, and he mostly vanished until 2009 when the new wave of funk bands made it safe to come out.  He formed Lee Fields & The Expressions and started making records again.  And his voice – which sounds an awful lot like James Brown – has weathered quite nicely. 

The lyrics above have been true for eternities.  But we in the FIRE community know better, we know money is a tool and nothing more.  A tool to unlock freedom.

Miscellaneous

How deadly is type 2 diabetes? – “Diabetes was only the 8th-leading cause of death in 2020. Can it really be possible that diabetes is so “harmless” relative to the other major chronic diseases, or are the CDC reports only the tip of the iceberg?“

The source of a strange anti-cancer compound is found in Florida – “Researchers at the University of Utah have finally discovered the source of a marine compound that had long shown promise as an anti-cancer drug.”

How the Academic Establishment Won the Debate by Ignoring the Challenge – “With great freedom comes great responsibility to enforce distinctions between truth-seeking, political activism, and pseudoscience.“