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Category Archives: Retirement issues

Low-cost microscope photography

Those of you who aren’t retired must think that I have entirely too much time on my hands. So please pardon me for another nerd post. And do keep in mind the importance of always doing and learning new things for as long as we’re living. My interest in microscopy is closely related to my […]

What’s next around here?

The county convention of the Stokes County Democratic Party, April 21 In July, this blog will be eight years old. Soon I’ll reach the 1,000th post. Any blog that has been around this long is bound to go through changes and fallow periods. But I’m not going away. I’m just trying to get clear on […]

Goodbye, Professoressa

Corriere della Sera, Milan I was very sorry to read today in the New York Times that La Professoressa — Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini — has died at age 103. I posted about La Professoressa back in 2009. Periodically I have checked to see if she was still living. I believe she was going strong until […]

Dying of consumption

Smike on his deathbed, dying of consumption — Nicholas Nickleby It’s a dark pun, but the people of the 19th century, and we in our own time, are stalked by the same wasting disease that leads inevitably to ruination if not death — consumption. Today is “black Friday.” The media (feeding the frenzy while pretending […]

Population growth? Run for your life…

Sometimes I have survivor’s guilt. I got in my Jeep, I drove and drove and drove, and I escaped the corporate life. Not only that, but many people struggling to get closer to the troughs in the corporate feedlots tried to eat my lunch back then, but I beat them back. It was self-defense, but […]

Ruralpolitans?

Wall Street Journal I have often wondered why we weren’t seeing more signs of a dropout movement, or a back-to-the-land movement, during this economic downturn. Maybe it’s happening. The Wall Street Journal had a piece this week about migration to rural areas, calling these back-to-the-landers “ruralpolitans.” It’s a rational thing to do. And yes, having […]

Living to be 100

The Island of the Ancients The Huffington Post has an article today on the growing number of people living to be 100 years old. One of the reasons cited for this is “improved diet.” I think it would have been more accurate to say “the possibility of improved diet.” The diet of the average American […]

Merrill Lynch calls it a Depression

Above: Household debt-to-income ratio [Merrill Lynch] Above: Personal savings rate [Merrill Lynch] I am strongly of the opinion that economic literacy is a personal survival skill, like knowing how to cook, or fix a leaky pipe. This recent article from Merrill Lynch does an excellent job of pulling together and charting some of the factors […]

New York Times on Boomers' second act

A local example of a humble house in the provinces The New York Times has a story today on the very strategy I used for early retirement — taking the proceeds of years in the city to buy or build debt-free in an area where the cost of living is low. Personally I cannot imagine […]

Moved to Stokes!

Where I live now… Where I used to live. You decide if it’s a step up or a step down… The trailer towed nicely yesterday, but it was a pain in the neck maneuvering it over the soft ground and backing it into its space between the trees. Jake, the RV maintenance man, did the […]