T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 152

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #152

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

Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content

A Harsh Truth, or a Contrarian View (Humble Dollar) “The US economy’s current situation has never looked better. Economic output, as measured by real GDP, currently sits near an all-time high.”

Market Musings: Recession Fears and the Trade War – Is this the end of FIRE? (Early Retirement Now) “By popular demand, and because it’s been a while since I wrote my last such post, here are a few thoughts on the current market conditions, especially the economic and financial uncertainty.“

Video

Swans can be brutal MFers.  Watch this black swan attack and try to drown someone’s golden retriever. Like me you might first think the video is a bit inappropriate since the dog seems genuinely kinda freaked out. But keep watching, dogs are the best.  After the retriever gets back on the dock he’s like “that was freaking awesome, I’m going back in for more!”.  They won’t let me embed the video but you can view it here.

What I’m Grateful For

A big result in a recent bike race, second place in my age group.  I trained my ass off for that one and it paid off.  I also won a free jersey, my first time winning loot from a bike race 🙂

Lyrically Speaking

Havin’ bad times, now I’m paying dues
Got shoes and money, good friends too
Always play to win, always seem to lose
That’s why I think I got a rich kid’s blues

From “Rich Kid Blues” by Terry Reid

I really hope to get back to a T.G.I.F. Friday post where I’m not honoring a recently deceased artist. This is not that post.  Terry Reid died August 4th at only 75 years of age.  If you’ve never heard of Reid you’re in decent company.  He never achieved huge industry success, but he did among other artists.  Most famously, Reid turned down two offers to be the lead singer of massive and legendary rock bands.  In 1969 he was offered the job of lead singer in Deep Purple to replace Rod Evans.  Deep Purple were already a huge band, so this was a big decision.  But more consequently, he turned down the lead vocalist job for Jimmy Page’s new band in 1968.  Reid had touring plans of his own that he couldn’t break, so he recommended an unknown singer named Robert Plant.  Plant joined Page’s group and they became Led Zeppelin.  As a massive Zeppelin fan myself I often wonder what they would have been like with Reid instead of Plant.  The big difference is that Reid was an accomplished guitarist, while Plant only sang.  Check out this awesome performance of Reid with a stripped down trio on the Old Grey Whistle test.  The guy was known for his massive voice (which sounds similar to Plant’s in many ways), but he was a damn good guitarist too.  Perhaps Zeppelin would have had a vastly different sound and song catalogue with 2 guitars.  Of course we’ll never know, but for music dorks like me it’s fun to think about.

So no Led Zeppelin, and no Deep Purple.  And he ended up a rather obscure artist who was not widely known, despite some very good records.  Did he regret turning down those gigs which would have likely made him a star?  As his wikipedia page says “When questioned by music journalists about his passing up of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, Reid said he did not regret his decisions and was satisfied with his own career. He was reported in 2019 as saying “I don’t sit around going over old coals””  

No regrets, I love it.  R.I.P. Mr. Reid and thanks for the music.  And regarding his lyrics in “Rich Kid Blues” above, I never had to even flirt with the possibility of having rich kid blues.  In hindsight they might have been a better flavor of blues than the ones I had as a kid, but no need to sit around going over old coals.

Miscellaneous

New dietary guidelines aim to optimize public health, not personal health – “Recommendations to limit meat and eggs are overly simplistic and misleading.”

Fat melts away, but so does muscle: What Ozempic users need to know – “GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are transforming weight loss, but a new UVA study warns they’re not improving a critical measure of health: cardiorespiratory fitness. While these medications help people shed fat, they also strip away vital muscle mass raising concerns about long-term heart health, physical function, and mortality.”

States take the lead in AI regulation as federal government steers clear – “All 50 states have introduced AI-related legislation this year.” *

* NOTE: I’m deep in the mountains getting heavy doses of vitamin nature and other assorted nutrients. I’ll get to comments when I return. I’m retired, this is how I roll, haha.