Another year has passed, so it’s time to look back at whether I spent money on good things that improve my life, or useless crap! Having last year’s best and worst in mind I think helped me make better choices this year, as the “worst” section has been harder for me to figure out. But […]
Weights
Ah, weights. A key staple of most guys’ possessions. There’s so much to be said about these. In 9th grade, my gym class did a rotation through weights training, and I thought it was kind of fun, so I asked for a weight set for Christmas. I still have this set. I’ve used it off […]
Quality vs Expense
In theory, the price of a thing is a function of its labor cost and the capital required to produce it, with a markup for profit. Sellers usually seek to maximize this profit, but competition drives it down. If the expense of labor and capital cannot be covered, the company goes out of business or […]
Simple vs Robust Solutions to Money Questions
Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. I feel this applies quite succinctly to most of the money decisions a person can make in their life. The greatest challenge with the subject of money is just how subjective and pliable it can be. Every person is different, every history is different, every preference is […]
Collections and Hoarding
Despite being fascinated by history, I don’t have a particularly strong desire to own it. I can appreciate the process of finding old things for a collection, and I can appreciate seeing the things themselves, but the acquisition always makes me a little uncomfortable. How badly do I want a basement full of old stuff? […]
In Defense of Skepticism
If you only knew me from my blog, you might think I’m a fairly negative person. At times in my life this has actually been true, but it usually doesn’t take me long to pick up on this, and during those times I’ve had to ask myself exactly where that negativity comes from. But other […]
Gimmicks
In middle school, we had an annual fund-raising event where the school tried to get all of the students to sell magazine subscriptions to friends and family. I guess the school got a cut of the proceeds, while some organization got the rest. They brought in a motivational speaker to get us pumped to win […]
Stay Away from MLMs!
Multi-Level Marketing companies. We’ve all known somebody who has been involved in one. Sometimes they are advertising these products on Facebook, sometimes they are giving you awkward presentations in your living room. These people are not bad people. They are usually just trying to increase their income. But the MLM companies themselves are scams, and […]
Base Pack Weight: 13 lbs
So it finally happened: the ultralight tent I have been wanting went on sale, 25% off to be exact, so I bought it. Whereas my old tent (which I plan to keep) was about 6.5 lbs, this new tent is about 3 lbs. My pack is otherwise empty, so I put my sleeping bag, sleeping […]
Clueless eBay Sellers
I’m not a fan of collecting things for their own sake, but I have to admit that I have started to become a collector of old mining supply books. I have two books, one from the late 1800s which was an absolutely amazing, lucky find, being the first in a popular series, and another from […]