The other day at work I had a very short interaction with a superior, but despite its length it left me feeling annoyed for most of the day. They had called me in the morning to ask some questions related to an upcoming project and I was more than happy to answer. Immediately after picking up the phone and hearing the tone of their voice, however, I could tell I was in for an unpleasant experience. They were impatient, terse, snappy in their responses, and did not allow me to explain myself or my reasoning on certain topics. It got to the point where even though some the information they were verifying with me was incorrect, I wanted to get off the phone so badly that I didn't even bother to say so. I feared doing so would also just open up another can of worms and further set them off. So I kept to myself and didn't say more than necessary until it was over.
Today I was called out by a friend for being too competitive. The situation itself was totally innocuous, we were discussing how may shares we wanted to own of a certain game company popular on reddit (you know the one). I have more shares than her, so when she said she wanted to increase her position I then half jokingly retorted that I would need to increase mine as well in order to ensure it was still 5x larger than hers. She called me weird and pushed me on why I felt the need to always do that, and besides triggering me it really made me think. Why am I so competitive with her and other people in my life?
A video I watched recently asked a simple question: what will happen when the day comes that artificial intelligence and advanced technology makes work obsolete? Imagine a distant future when 3D printing tech has reached its full potential and we have the equivalent of Replicators from Star Trek. That alone would make most jobs irreverent since a good portion of the current workforce on the planet is producing goods. Humans would suddenly have a heck of a lot more free time on their hands and not much to do. Part of me thinks we'd slowly go insane, but if you look back historically, this is what our ancestors did for hundreds of thousands of years.
Bitcoin crossed a major milestone this month, it hit a staggering value of $60,000 per coin. Just one year ago, it was only at $3,000 and many thought it was done for. And back in 2015 when I first discovered it, Bitcoin was trading at $245 per coin (and sadly I didn't buy). From the figures I just mentioned, a pattern should be easy to notice: Bitcoin has and continues to exhibit exponential growth. But it also has other interesting properties. It is the fastest growing asset in history, averaging about 400% growth per year. It is completely decentralized and cannot be shut down or controlled by any institution or state government. And despite it's digital existence, Bitcoin is a finite resource as only 21 million coins will ever exist.
I don’t have many vivid memories of my early childhood. What I can dredge up when I try hard enough are simply fragments or vignettes with little context of what my life was like at the time. Usually these are moments that were impactful enough to be permanently stored in my subconscious because they taught me a lesson, good or bad, that would help me survive in the future. When I think of my grandfather, only one memory ever comes up: me making him angry and getting struck in the face, followed by blood running down my mouth.
If you’re a loyal reader of mine then you probably already know that I’ve been on a carnivore diet for almost two months now. In that time I’ve had plenty of ups and downs, which I plan to further expand upon in future posts. Lately I’ve been really enjoying just eating steak and beef liver pretty regularly. It’s both filling and quite satisfying to the palate. Tonight for my one meal I decided to have steak along with some rice, a banana, guava, tomato, and some white bread to see just how much I was missing. Spoiler Alert: I didn’t miss much...
I spent most of my day today thinking about the future and where I’ll end up. While I usually try to stay mindful and in the present, it’s nice to just imagine where I want to be. To manifest in my mind’s eye the exact place where I want to live, the amount of money I want to retire off, and the plans I would finally be able to execute. By doing so I think it made my current situation a lot more tolerable since it was a nice reminder of how temporary it really is.
They say the only two things guaranteed in life are death and taxes, but I’d argue that change would be the third. Whether we do a lot in life or do nothing at all, change will still come for us regardless and challenge us anew. Will you try to fight it and lose or embrace it with open arms? The choice is yours.
Today was an important day for me, it was the day when I found my faith. Not in religion or politics, but in GameStop. For the past two months I have been watching this little stock grow big and strong, but I was never fully convinced that it could become a behemoth and make regular folks like me rich. In fact I thought I had completely missed the boat. I am now thoroughly a believer that we are on the cusp of the greatest wealth transfer in history.
I really thought this time was going to be different between us, I really did. After all, they say the third time's the charm. The first time we got together things were good between us. You energized me, kept me focused, and provided me with an easy way to stay ketogenic. After awhile, though, I started to notice the toxic nature of our relationship. It was subtle, but after a few months I realized that you were wearing me down and I could do better on my own. So I made the right decision and put myself first and we didn't interact for years, except brief sips here and there. The second time was just a fling and we both know it was a mistake that isn't even worth discussing. But today was the last straw...
Over the weekend the US Senate approved a massive $1.9 trillion stimulus package which aims to provide the country with much needed relief from the damage caused by the coronavirus. The package will be headed back to the House of Representatives this week for final approval and will likely then be signed by the president shortly after. While the bill is packed with aid (and pork) in the form of unemployment benefits, state and local funds, and money for schools, the stimulus checks are what most Americans are excited about. Well, not all Americans are excited for it. Almost all Republicans in Congress voted against the bill on the basis that we don't need it anymore since the economy is already recovering. Which made me think, what is it about direct cash payments that causes such fervent opposition?