T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 133

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #133!

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

Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content

Consumer expectations hit highest level since July 2021: survey (CFO Dive) – “Expectations for personal finances have improved amid indications that many Americans, when looking back four years, believe their financial well-being has declined.”

The Key to A Happy Early Retirement (Retire By 40) – “Most people think they’ll enjoy a relaxing retirement, but that is a fallacy.“

Video

Semiconductors, they’re in everything. Nvidia now has the largest market cap of any company in the world. But there’s a problem – over 90% of the advanced chips in the world are made in literally one factory in Taiwan, and invading Taiwan has been on China’s “to do” list for a while now. This video is 16 minutes but very well done and worth the time investment. 

What I’m Grateful For

The exhilarating and gratifying feeling of being alive I experienced in the latter half of a 125 mile ride last week. The stinging pain of my lactate-saturated muscles could not sour the awe, invigoration, and joy of just ‘doing the thing’.   

Lyrically Speaking

There’s a trouble around, it’s never far away
The same trouble’s been around for a life and a day
I can’t forget the sound, ’cause it’s here to stay
The sound of people chasing money and money getting away

From “Whiskey Bottle” by Uncle Tupelo

I’ve mentioned Uncle Tupelo numerous times in T.G.I.F. Friday but never featured them. The term “Alt-country” was basically birthed from Uncle Tupelo.  They made what could tangentially be called country music but with a rock/punk/hardcore ethos, and they deftly floated between those genres.  The opening track on their debut album “Graveyard Shift” starts out familiar enough with some jangly guitar and common rootsy pentatonic riffs.  But at 30 seconds in the band upends what you might be expecting and announces a new genre.  Remember this is 1990, and nothing like this was out there.  It was as if Husker Du and the Jayhawks had a mutant baby, and it sounded awesome. 

Uncle Tupelo went on to make four amazing studio albums and broke up in 1994.  Their breakup spawned Wilco and Son Volt from key songwriters Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, and those two bands have worldwide followings and still make music today. 

As for the lyrics above, hoards of folks are chasing money in life and – often because of whiskey bottles – money is getting away from so many of them.  I’m so grateful I avoided that fate but man it was sketchy there for a long time…

Miscellaneous

Skeletal muscle health amid growing use of weight loss medications – “…muscle loss, as measured by decreases in fat-free mass, can account for 25 to 39 percent of total weight lost over a period of 36 to 72 weeks. This rate of muscle decline is significantly higher than what is typically observed with non-pharmacological caloric restriction or normal aging and could lead to unintended negative health consequences.”

Lidar mapping reveals mountainous medieval cities along the Silk Road – “A city larger than many in Europe at the time was perched in the mountains.

The Odds That Aliens Exist Just Got Worse – “How geology resolves the Fermi paradox.“