We bring you an example of sharing economy horror, some harsh truths, visit the land of the rich, look at CIA albums and that’s about it! This is another edition of the Three Four Links I Love series I like to do featuring some material that made a very strong impression on me and I think you may enjoy them too.
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We like to take it easy around here in the weekends. And so should you. Relax, get some coffee (or tea or whatever you like), get the newspaper fire up your browser and enjoy. Remember the blog mission, remember the blog mission, remember the blog mission….is something I say to myself 24/7, 365 🙂
The Crazy Story of the Professor Who Came to Stay–and Wouldn’t Leave
Before you rent your place out to Airbnb or other sharing economy type places, perhaps you should read this article. Or move away from Caifornia lol. Shaking my head, some people can be such assholes, wow!
6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
One of the themes ever present in my blog is the concept of continuous improvement. We should all strive to get better because, well, the alternative is just not as fun and it does not improve humanity. Or whatever. I liked this piece for its in yo face advice, I sent it to my son. It brings to mind Greeks back in the homeland bitching about everything as they sit around for hours in cafes drinking coffee and smoking lol. Warning: If you do not like the F word or other swear words, DO NOT CLICK on the link. Ok, you have been warned. ANOTHER warning: Do not watch the Goat guy video, PLEASE…you may have nightmares for the rest of your life…or laugh hysterically, not sure which way you’ll go on that one lol. Lets recap in case you are too lazy to read it all:
The World Only Cares About What It Can Get From You
The Hippies Were Wrong
What You Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People
You Hate Yourself Because You Don’t Do Anything
What You Are Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes You Do
Everything Inside You Will Fight Improvement
In The Land Of The Rich
This is short and very funny. A poor journalist gets to mix in the land of the mega rich. Something I did recently because I have the American Express Platinum card (insert imaginary link lol). The article starts with this paragraph and reading it should bring you smiles because it is very central to what travel hacking has done for us who have been playing the miles game for years.
Some people are born rich, some acquire riches and some occasionally get an invitation to hang out in the land of the rich. Of these groups, the third is the most unpleasant. It is made up of the grabbers and gobblers and braggarts. They grab all the freebies, gobble down the Michelin-starred meals and boast about their experiences to anyone who will listen. I know because I’m one of them.
Because three is not enough and this blog always strives to do more instead of imitating posers who are not proud of what they produce and only care about how to bring in money, here is another link that fascinated me this week:
Central Intelligence Agency’s Albums
Did you know CIA had a flickr page? And it is absolutely wonderful to look at what they post there? From recently declassified maps, to World Factbook posts to much more. LOVE it! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Oh, and expecting to see an album devoted to Putin soon here #Russianhacking
And I leave you with this..
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
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Good last Sunday morning from Paradise…
#TBBon
The “harsh truths” article was excellent. It would have been more useful when I was 22, but better late than never.
Too much rambling. Couldn’t finish it. Communicate effectively in most cases equals being succinct.
Yeah, I wish I had read it when I was in college too…
And I quote: “Stop creating. This is different from what I would have made, and the attention you’re getting is making me feel bad about myself.”
Think this applies to your comment and to TBB’s entire raison d’etre
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to comment here.
1. Very high quality writing today, Buzz. Bravo.
2. What a toxic combination-a consumer protection law gone amuck, a “sharing economy” where you turn over your house to a virtual stranger, and of course a lawyer fighting for human rights (“…textbook case of libel”…).
I’ve been trying to get Air BnB type rentals forbidden in our HOA since anyone with a Visa gift card and a hotmail account can move right in. No luck so far, but I am sure the first real bozo renter who shows up will help my case.
3. We once rented an apartment in Europe from someone married to a college instructor. We didn’t get our deposit back for months despite several calls and letters. Then I left a few sharp messages on the voicemail at the college and-imagine this-we got our money back, along with a note of disappointment in my impatience.
@Sam, I am sure that the first time someone in your HOA needs to make a little extra to prevent their losing their house or pay for a medical procedure finds that they can NOT use Airbnb to try to cover their bills, will be most grateful to you for your efforts.
Being able to do this, *RESPONSIBLY*, has made it possible over the last year for me to finally fix some important things around here and to even travel a bit. And pay lawyer for problems with a 9 year old divorce.
Don’t look down your nose at all Airbnb people as if they were all the same. There’s a lot of very good responsible folks using it.
@Carl……………….lighten up pal.
Multiple stroking techniques can help in that effort.
Tomorrow I had the latest research findings on masturbation #true
I can see both Sam’s and Carl’s points as well, I like the discussion!
Carl-
Changing a neighborhood of multi-family housing from residential to rent by the night is all I’m addressing.
As the lawyer in the linked case might say, introducing financial need into the dialogue is a textbook case of misdirecting the discussion. Maybe the folks needing money should start selling hot dogs (or gift cards) out of their back yards. Maybe Italian sandwich nights on Tuesdays with a band. Maybe a massage in the garage (what a slogan).
Spare me the tears.
Good morning to everyone.
by the time I saw your comment, it was afternoon 🙂
Good articles George.
Personally don’t appreciate the tone of some of the comments here related to HOA and Airbnb. I consider us readers in this corner of the blogosphere to be different in some way. Would like to think we can share different opinions without low blows.
We are different. Because we are passionate about some of this stuff.
Like I said above, I can see both of their points.
There is no doubt that many do this responsibly and positive experiences abound. At the same time, the legal and insurance issues are such a huge deal killer for me that this would be the last thing I do…I will even consider selling out to TPG before I rent my place on Airbnb hehe.
Peteco’s right-my posts were harsh, which I regret.
I am sorry for Carl’s tough times, and were he my friend or neighbor, I hope I would try to help him get straight. I also bet he is a responsible host.
The problem is that there is no agreement on what being a ‘responsible host’ means, and no way to enforce that standard and impose effective consequences on those who are not responsible.
Our neighbors are a young couple-nice, quiet, ‘hey, bro’ sort of folks. They rented their townhome on Air BnB and headed off to live in the mountains. We got a parade of bad experiences-smoking pot in the open space (and wouldn’t share), 10 or 11 people dancing in the driveway at 11 pm, on and on.
There are also legal consequences. If a tenant leaves a coffee pot on and burns down 6-8 of these places, it could easily cost $3 million, $4 million, pick a number, to rebuild them to today’s code. I know Air BnB says it has insurance, but who has read the terms and limits and determined that coverage (plus the landlord’s) is sufficient? No one I know of. Many homeowners policies have provisions that prohibit using the property for business or other short term rental activities. All insurance looks good until the claims agent shows up.
And to head off the ‘it’s my proerty’ discussion-yes, it is your property and you’re entitled to use it as was permitted when you bought it, just like me. From a legal standpoint, even if my neighbor’s son has brain cancer, it doesn’t legally entitle him or her to rent my car out when I am not home, to take my TV or to violate the laws and other agreements we have bound one another to. Moral authority-you bet. Legal authority-not a bit.
I am glad there are folks like Carl who do this right. Sadly, there are many others who don’t, and few ways to know the difference ahead of time.
Like I said above, I really enjoyed the discussion about Airbnb type renting! And I think Sam has some very valid points! The legal, the insurance…And then someone did not share their pot, WTF!!!!
Sharing economy is dirty. Be it Uber or AirBnB, they thrive by making unethical, if not outright illegal decisions on a daily basis, cleverly using inefficiencies or inability of both the legal system and other businesses to squash them before they’ve gotten too big. Read about AirBnB Craigslist so called “integration” if you want a good laugh.
At the end of the day…all theae sites compete to see which one loses the most money 🙂
get it on this NOW, won’t last!
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/104500
Tomorrow’s blog post demolishes TPG….Could not help it.
#cluelessmedia
I like the CIA landscape with Jacobo Arbenz’s lifeless body.
I liked the maps!
George, can I submit this gif for inclusion in the prestigious TBB end-of-post gif section?
https://gfycat.com/DefensiveCloseCopepod
Yes you can! What was he thinking?
Yeah WFT!!!
😉