Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as how to survive war, rampant tax scams, skills AI will never replace, stranded in Qatar, new Marriott Bonvoy offers, managing investment risk, retirement plan movie, Havana syndrome update, best places to work in America, essential guide to Detroit, the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.

 

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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.

 

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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

I need to work on the annual rendition of how I burned almost 2 million miles & points in 2025 again but time is short and focusing on main job that pays the bills and home renovation contractors so I will get to it some day before 2026 lol.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you” – Pericles

 

MUST READ GEMS

Best thing I read last week:

how to survive a war while sitting on your couch

Very short read and right on point. As always with the articles picked for this section, read it all. And here is where I found this absolutely awesome calendar (by Matt Shirley @mattsurelee)

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

Some good thoughts about Managing Investment Risk.

…hardest part about complex instruments is that we can’t know in advance how they’ll perform through various market cycles. Times of stress could cause an otherwise successful strategy to fail. [Choose simple every time]

If concentration is a potential risk, it’s one that’s easy to avoid. To diversify away from the S&P 500, you could allocate to value stocks, to small- and mid-cap stocks and to international stocks. [If your advisor is not doing this already, maybe you should look for another one]

Must watch short film: Retirement Plan.

Be careful yourself and please watch your elder loved ones: How to Protect Yourself From Financial Scams Targeting Older Adults. Americans over 60 are losing billions of dollars to fraud, a far bigger threat than physical crime.

And these numbers found here. You have a plan for the next time we get one of these right?

These are the worst peak-to-trough drawdowns every year in the 2020s for the S&P 500:

• 2020: -33.9%
• 2021: -5.2%
• 2022: -25.4%
• 2023: -10.3%
• 2024: -8.5%
• 2025: -18.9%

 

CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS

Be careful out there: 5 Tax Scams to Watch for This Filing Season.

Never ever forget this: The IRS doesn’t initiate contact by email, text or social media to request personal or financial information, or threaten arrest.

Tech can be amazingly amusing sometimes. Like, type something in plain English and it is translated back to you by a McKinsey consultant lol. Have fun: Kagi Translate.

 

AI

Trying to stay positive: AI Isn’t Coming for Everyone’s Job.

The demand for the human touch is one reason there are still millions of waiters despite the potential to automate them with QR codes and ordering tablets. [Yeah, don’t point me to QR codes and, for the love of God, no phucking tablets, I do enough scrolling during the day!]

This demand for the human touch appears to grow with income. The level of restaurant service and the number of jobs needed to provide it tends to go up with the size of the bill. Fine dining likely involves not only a waiter but someone who advises on wines, someone to keep the table clean as you dine, someone to bring out the cheese cart. In economics terms, the human touch is a normal good, something that a richer society demands more of…Our willingness to pay for the human touch does not mean that AI will not be disruptive to the labor market. There are still many jobs that AI will be able to do and where consumers won’t mind and may even value the absence of humans…This would be a very different future from one where humans and our labor are fully displaced by thinking machines.

Good video, focusing on the positive again: The 6 Skills AI Will Never Replace.