A shorter TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web, one in each section, such as the mental freedom from bypassing active investing and phone traps, the alarming AI energy needs ahead, a deep personal post of losing your father in a terrorist bombing, the 10 best hiking trails and the incredible value from the Capital One Venture X rewards credit card.
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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.
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
A rare Tuesday post bringing to you just one eclectic read in each blog section. This blog keeps evolving. Or maybe it was the slow Memorial Day weekend. Or something else. No guarantee that you will start seeing posts on Tuesday. The Friday mega blog posts should continue…for now.
PERSONAL FINANCE
I really like the advice in this article: You Can’t Put a Price on Mental Freedom.
…when you buy an active investment like an individual stock, that investment consumes a lot of your attention…We attach our egos to what we choose to invest in…The real cost of active investments isn’t the likely underperformance or the existential dread, it’s the mental distraction you create for yourself. It’s the time you could’ve been doing things you’re probably better at.
and it expands to:
…screen time keeps rising and young people are spending more time alone than ever before…We are being pacified with digital bread and circuses while the owners of these platforms continue to get wealthier and more powerful…while you’re focusing on the tariff war, how many kids Elon Musk has, or whatever else is dominating the news cycle, the people managing these systems are getting richer and richer. And they are doing it at the expense of your most important asset—your time and attention.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
Sobering and alarming: We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. The emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn’t tracking and consider where it’s heading next.
This is a deep dive on the subject…
…enough electricity was used on AI in the US last year for every person on Earth to have exchanged more than 4,000 messages with chatbots. In reality, of course, average individual users aren’t responsible for all this power demand. Much of it is likely going toward startups and tech giants testing their models, power users exploring every new feature, and energy-heavy tasks like generating videos or avatars. Data centers in the US used somewhere around 200 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, roughly what it takes to power Thailand for a year.
By 2028, the researchers estimate, the power going to AI-specific purposes will rise to between 165 and 326 terawatt-hours per year. That’s more than all electricity currently used by US data centers for all purposes; it’s enough to power 22% of US households each year. That could generate the same emissions as driving over 300 billion miles—over 1,600 round trips to the sun from Earth.
Between 2024 and 2028, the share of US electricity going to data centers may triple, from its current 4.4% to 12%.
Crucially, there’s a lot we don’t know; tech giants are largely keeping quiet about the details. But to judge from our estimates, it’s clear that AI is a force reshaping not just technology but the power grid and the world around us.
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ODDZ & ENDZ
What a read: My Father Prosecuted History’s Crimes. Then He Died in One.
The article started with young prosecutor tracking and busting a former Nazi living in the US and…then it takes a turn with him getting blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland and the aftermath of the Libyan involvement. All told by his daughter who was way too young when the news of her father’s death reached her. It is a very emotional read, you have been warned. And she is a wonderful writer, here is a small excerpt:
One morning when I was 4, I woke up and walked downstairs in our suburban Washington home, still in my pajamas. A semicircle of adults was sitting in high-backed dining chairs in the living room, waiting for me. They all looked very sad. My mother beckoned me into her lap and told me that Daddy had been killed in a plane crash. That’s my first real memory with a beginning, a middle and an end. According to my mother, I reacted to the news by asking if I could go play with my toys in the other room.
For years, I thought this meant I was too young to understand what had happened. Apparently, for several weeks after the bombing, I would run to the front door whenever the doorbell rang, expecting my father to walk into the house. But I have two little boys now, and I’m no longer sure that I was quite so clueless back then. Four-year-olds think magically, but not stupidly. They weave what adults tell them into the personal myths through which they make sense of the world. This made me perfectly receptive to the somewhat childish logic of the myths people used to make sense of my father’s murder.
TRAVEL
Do this before you get too old and your body does not let you: The 10 Best Hiking Trails in the US.
- Angels Landing Trail // Zion National Park, Utah
- Delicate Arch Trail // Arches National Park, Utah
- Navajo Loop and Queens Garden Trail // Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
- Devil’s Bridge Trail via Dry Creek Road // Sedona, Arizona
- Camelback Mountain via Echo Canyon Trail // Phoenix, Arizona
- Cathedral Rock Trail // Sedona, Arizona
- Rattlesnake Ledge Trail // North Bend, Washington
- Skyline Loop // Paradise, Washington
- Piestewa Peak Summit Trail // Phoenix, Arizona
- Avalanche Lake // Glacier National Park, Montana
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MILES & POINTS
I have been playing the miles games since the early 90’s. I was around before most blogs started. This space has changed so much over the years. But what remains true is this: You are going to spend money and these days you do it mostly with a credit card. Some use a debit card to control themselves. And very few use cash. So, if you are going to use a credit card you might as well get some rewards out of your purchases. Yeah, maximize your rewards, it can be kind of addictive. Of course you must pay off your credit card statement balance EVERY month, this is not negotiable. Because the people who carry revolving credit card debt end up primarily paying for our rewards. And US banks just love shoving credit cards with juicy signup bonuses in our faces every day. So, you can say no or play along and take advantage of their generosity marketing budget. As this space has expanded over the years, devaluations have been relentless and restrictions as well, here is where we stand on the restrictions front:
Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions [2025]
At the very least, pick a no annual fee credit card that pays you 2%, this should be the starting point. If you like to keep things simple, at least do this and go at it. If you would like to get some travel benefits while at it, you should seriously consider applying to get the Capital One Venture X credit card which miraculously still has the same annual fee and 75k Signup Bonus for a very long time. Capital One will pay you $5 per year and all the food/drinks you consume in Capital One and Priority Pass lounges is on top of that #winning. Wait, you can give 4 people you love an Authorized User card so they can also eat/drink for free as well. My wife and daughter recently passed through San Fransisco and ended up flashing their Priority Pass cards to eat and drink in the amazing The Club SFO airline lounge. Twice. And good luck getting approved by Capital One, not a gimme with this bank. I outline below the incredible value of this card.
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add FOUR authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more. If you prefer, this is my personal referral link.
As of today, I have burned 366,156 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,693,404 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
From: The 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year.
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
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George
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Thanks for carrying on!
The AI energy use piece is really interesting and terribly useful. It
explains why the push for nuclear power is coming from AI
providers.
Whee! Thanks for the bonus posting! Great stuff as always!
Thanks guys, we’ll see if this second post makes any difference in lowering the projected loss of TBB Inc. this year…
10 links have landed in the Friday TBB post already. Hardest working blogger who loses money almost 13 years into blogging LOL.
Anyway, pulled the trigger on two one way tickets to Greece, for the girls. Thanks to Google Flight alerts, just could not pass up the cash price for the perfect itinerary.
Good morning Buzz,
As always, thanks for the links. AI, another can of creepy worms.
Some great deals available these days.
Have a great week.
The Narrows hike in Zion should also be on the top ten hikes as its also amazing, and if you’re there when its hot, hiking in the river is awesome. That gives Utah pretty much all the best hikes, which after years of travel, it’s hard to argue about. Plus you can stop in Capital Reef National Park on the way between Zion and Arches and do some free fruit picking in the orchards. Don’t tell anyone but Utah might be the best place in the US!
@ David: Thanks again. Yeah, finding lots of deals lately to/from Greece. I may save business class awards to/from Thailand 🙂
@ Ryand del Mundo: Yeah, the outdoors in Utah are top notch indeed. Just not into skiing though 🙂 I remember when I was in Salt Lake City walking around I went inside this awesome cafe with a live band…the vibe was soooo, you know, NYC 🙂 And then a few blocks away were these huge buildings of that church, just felt a little odd.
20 unique links are already in the TBB Friday post draft.
Getting my inside of the car detailed today, daughter made a comment which did not sit right. It was time lol.