T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 177
Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #177
Here are some things I really like and that you might too!
Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content
Majorities of Americans say key financial milestones are harder for today’s young adults to reach (Pew Research Center) “The shares of 21-year-olds who were employed full-time, were financially independent or lived outside their parents’ home were all lower in 2021 than in 1980.
Half of Americans now ask AI for financial advice, but how good is it? (MIT Sloan School Of Management) “New MIT Sloan School of Management research finds that while AI can improve saving and spending guidance over a lifetime, it still reflects biases tied to user inputs and struggles with portfolio rebalancing.“
Video
Modern humans have been putzin’ around the Earth for about 300,000 years. And while the Earth is big there’s more than 8,300,000,000 of us so you’d think we could cover some serious ground. Yet a new species of monkey was found in the Congo recently. If we’re still finding large mammalian species on land in 2026 imagine how many thousands (millions?) of fish and mammals that we have yet to discover in the oceans. They comprise about 71% of the earth’s surface but that stat is kind of meaningless, it’s about their depth. We’ve barely explored .0001% of the oceans on Earth and I bet there’s some wild shit down there!
What I’m Grateful For
A fourth place finish in a big bike race a few weeks ago. It’s tough to be happy when I missed out on the podium by a slim margin, but it was a big race and a stacked field and I actually did better than expected considering the course profile (or “parcours” as we say in bike racing) didn’t play to my strengths.
Lyrically Speaking
Well, you can’t just get what you want
Without a little work today
And you can’t just stick out your hand
No, it doesn’t work that way
From “Paying My Way” by Glen Hasnard
In the relatively small world of famous musicians from Ireland, Van Morrison stands head and shoulders above everyone to me. U2 would be second. After that it starts thinning out quick, with bands like Thin Lizzy and The Pogues being standouts. Born in Dublin, Glen Hasnard came to prominence in the early 1990’s with a role in the 1991 movie The Commitments (<–affiliate link) after starting his band The Frames the year prior. He was a clear talent and quickly started projects with other musicians including a folk-rock band called The Swell Season with Markéta Irglová. He toured with Eddie Vedder, wrote music for various movies, and was a well-established part of the live folk-rock music scene both in Europe and in the U.S. I really love Hasnard’s voice, a gritty and evocative baritone that’s meant for the substantive songs he wrote. Hasnard died on July 29th in a motorcycle crash in Ireland, he was only 56. Tributes have been pouring in and Bono from U2 penned a particularly good one. R.I.P. Glen and thanks for the music.
As for the lyrics above, I now get what I want without having to work most days, though I work hard on my bike and on my health in general. If you achieve financial independence you can get there too.
Miscellaneous
Coffee may protect your heart but energy drinks could harm it – “Moderate coffee may help the heart, but high-powered energy drinks could push caffeine into dangerous territory.”
Inside NASA’s ‘very ambitious’ moon base plan – “NASA’s moon exploration plans call for nearly 80 launches, nearly 75 landers, 10 moon buggies and one nuclear reactor.”
Despite AI hype, Google’s data shows workers aren’t automating themselves away – “Analysis of 15 million real AI interactions finds most tasks at most jobs are unaffected.”
**Note To My Readers – I sometimes get complaints about ads on my blog (too many). I’m kind of astonished that anyone browses the internet without an ad-blocker. I haven’t seen ads in over a decade, and you shouldn’t either. Please use an ad blocker, your life will improve 500%
Boom! 4th place is great… Congrats
Yeah after winning that big one last year I have to temper expectations and remind myself I’m not Tadej Pogacar, lol. Not that I ever though I was, but winning makes me want to keep winning, and that’s a treadmill that’s dangerous. Thanks Stu!
So what you’re saying is bigfoot might be out there….but underwater.
But seriously, these TGIF’s are some of the few FI related things I still read. Speaking of the Irish, have you seen the Moone Boy series? Steve Wall was occasionally on there, basically playing every Irish rocker ever.
Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, various unicorns, and Yetis are no doubt hanging out somewhere having beers and a laugh about us silly humans. And I have not seen that Moon Boy series but will be checking it out for sure – thanks for that and thanks for stopping by dude, I appreciate it!
I didn’t know much about Glen Hansard before last July. I had heard of, but not seen the movie and the musical. But through a series of lucky occurrences I scored free tickets to see The Swell Season when they came to Wolf Trap. Sitting on the lawn listening to them play was a highlight of the summer and a favorite musical experience of all time. We have been listening to him and them regularly ever since. I was shocked to hear of his death. Thanks for sharing about him today.
So cool! I didn’t know Swell Season were even playing as recently as last year, glad you had that experience before he passed. I’m sure he’s adding some nice vocals and harmonies to the great gig in the sky. Thanks for stopping by Rebecca!
Congrats on the finish, but as for reflection on just missing the podium, the only one person to stack up against is yourself and I hope you did well in that category my friend.
On the music side of things, did you see this performance by chance? If you loved Zombie then this clip from a recent concert is tough not to get emotional listening to. Your Ireland comment had me immediately thinking of this year’s concerts with Dermot Kennedy playing with the remaining Cranberries members.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2088608308746787
(can’t find a good version that isn’t facebook/instagram sorry)
As far as the race, you’re telling me things I already know but always need reminding of, so thanks. I did leave it all out there, I had nothing more to give. As for the link I had not seen that and was going to mention The Cranberries, along with Sinead O’Connor, in the post. I remember being so sad when Dolores O’Riordan died, she was only 46. Such a unique voice. Cheers Chris!