T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 134
Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #134!
Here are some things I really like and that you might too.
Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content
Must Retirement Be a Hard Landing? (Can I Retire Yet) – “A small part of me wishes I’d had the guts to pursue a career path that afforded me more time to consume and observe when I was younger.”
Reasons To Be Thankful This Season: A Personal Finance Perspective (Forbes) – “Here are five reasons to be thankful this season, all rooted in the principles of sound financial planning.“
Video
Time for nature porn!! Grand Teton National Park is one of my favorite places and I’ve climbed and hiked there a lot. Enjoy this stunning video of the Bridger Teton National Forest in 4k – put it on the big screen!
What I’m Grateful For
The numerous generous friends who invited me over for Thanksgiving. Life is good.
Lyrically Speaking
Thank you for the days
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me
I’m thinking of the days
I won’t forget a single day, believe me
From “Days” by The Kinks
The beer glass shattered on stage and I realized shit was getting real. It was 1993 and we were at The Bayou, a legendary club in Washington D.C. waiting for the Kinks to take the stage. They were supposed to come on at 10:00, and it was now 11:30 or so. A full hour and a half of waiting for our heroes after an unmemorable opening act. People were getting increasingly drunk and pissed off. Finally the band strutted on stage, drunk off their asses. Hearing the boos and discontent, Ray Davies grabbed the mic and basically told the crowd to fuck off with a rock star attitude that said “We’re the fucking Kinks, we’re legends, we’ll come out when we wanna come out you pricks”. They proceeded to play and actually still sounded great, and eventually the crowd leaned in.
I didn’t reflect on the experience then, but I do now. The Kinks didn’t have much gratitude that night for the hundreds of people in the audience who forked over good money to see them play music – their fans. Imagine being rich and famous for playing music and then pissing all over the very people who got you there. The reality was they had substance abuse issues like many rock stars and the Davies brothers were constantly feuding and at each others throats. Months on the road likely had them at their limits of even tolerating each others’ existence, and those things boil over into acting like shitty people.
Gratitude. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and though I had my most challenging year in a long time, I have more gratitude than ever. Yes, sometimes I flare up like the Kinks did that night and complain and act like a prick, but mostly I’m grateful. Grateful for my friends, family, my country, and my amazing life and the good fortune I’ve had.
As for the lyrics above, the Kinks penned so many classics, and “Days” has to be one of the best gratitude songs in history.
Miscellaneous
Patients Are Suing Over Alleged Side Effects of Weight-Loss Drugs (audio version available) – “Despite the millions of prescriptions and the hundreds of studies that have analyzed GLP-1 drugs, questions remain about how they affect long-term health.”
America’s Rare Earth Problem Could Be Solved With Literal Trash – “Rare earth elements are crucial to many technologies, and scientists say the U.S. could boost extraction from domestic reserves by as much as eight times the current level.”
Could humans hibernate? – “Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too?“
Man, I’m glad I’m not a drunk asshole anymore. Maybe still an asshole, but not nearly as bad as the old inebriated version….
Wish your year was more vanilla, hope the future holds some peace.
Those weight loss drugs remind me of what someone said about there not being anything such as a biological free lunch. There will always be a price, and many times you’re rolling the dice.
Oh yeah, bought that happy lamp you plugged some time back. It’s been great, especially when I have to shift my sleep schedule. Thanks!
Here’s to being FORMER drunk assholes! A vanilla year in ’25 would be okay, but I’d prefer vanilla with some nice strawberries on top or something colorful. As for the Time article, you are correct – there’s no free lunch without consequences when it comes to losing weight and I said it a while back, this whole experiment with these drugs will very likely not end well for most. Lastly I’m stoked you’re using the light, I use it pretty much every day and now with the short daylight hours in late fall it’s crucial. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!
“Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too?“
There’s nothing I’d like more than to hibernate, but I’m just too apathetic to read the article.
Ha, love it!