The ongoing conversation
A data center can be a good investment for its owner and a bad deal for the people paying for the power lines. Before calling it progress, ask whether those are the same people, what each group gets, and who pays if the expected customers never arrive. A company forecasts demand.A utility plans construction.A community […]
Some quick rules of thumb for those of you with a website and a website admin (someone you contact when you need something changed or updated on the site), based on my attempts to do some things with those websites: Is it your domain name, or the website admin’s? This is the realm of the […]
When I rediscovered classical music, I became especially interested in the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). The bells in Symphony #4 hooked me, and the somber poetry in works like “Tapiola” and “Nightride and Sunrise” reeled me in. Times being what they were, I tried to find a “minimal-expenditure” path through some of his […]
I recently read a blog from the Wall Street Journal, “12 Debt Myths That Trip Up Consumers“. It includes many great tips, leading with the best: “Avoid debt.” But then toward the end, it stumbles badly with this one: Mortgage-interest payments can be deducted on your tax return, which can save you a bundle. The […]
This time of year brings together two ideas that don’t have much in common: I’ve received all of my documentation that I need to prepare my tax returns, and this week is Valentine’s Day! A few years ago, my wife and I decided to make a Valentine’s Day gift to one of our charities, and […]
I like credit unions, I really do. I’m a customer of both banks and credit unions, and my credit union handles more of my money than my bank does. But: My credit union, and perhaps many credit unions, have offered me an “opportunity” this holiday: I can skip my next loan payment, either December or […]
This weekend I was over-scheduled, and I came out of it wondering how I had managed to avoid posting another entry for the whole weekend. But at least that wonderment lead to this reminder: Whether you’re managing your time, your money, or your calories, the basics come down to: Become conscious and intentional about your […]