Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as money & life, navigating Medicare, the best art museums, post election aftermath blues, higher 401k and IRA contributions, what makes Elon tweet, families ripped apart by scammers, best photography, the most unique hotel in every state and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of miles and points. See you next next week from Bangkok, 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.
This is a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
Leaving the country after this election! Actually, I am going to Thailand next week, a trip I planned months ago. I used to kid I may stay there in case Trump won the election. Now, it is a distinct possibility, sad lol. Anyway, I have more on the election and how I am dealing with the aftermath at the bottom of this long post.
I am going to keep blogging on Fridays. Until my second credit card provider also kicks me out due to low sales. Frankly, I am shocked it has not happened yet. Thank you to readers who use my credit card links (two in October). And two more who used my Chase personal referral link. If it wasn’t for you guys this blog would not exist for 12 years.
Hopefully, the posts coming to you from Thailand over the next several weeks will be much shorter as I will try to be a lot more eclectic on what I post here. And I may throw in there some old posts from the past and some pics. If you want to follow me on my trip, the best way is to follow me on Instagram.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Make sure you adjust your 401(k) Plan contribution elections to take advantage of this: The IRS Revealed 2025 Changes To Retirement 401(k) and IRA Contribution Limits. If you complain about paying too much in income taxes, here is a chance to pay less and continue building your retirement nest egg.
The 401(k) contribution limit for 2025 is $23,500, up from $23,000 in 2024
The over age 50 catch-up contribution limit for workplace retirement plans will also stay at $7,500 in 2025 for 401(k)s
Individual retirement account (IRA) contributions will continue to be $7,000 in 2025, the same as in 2024
And the most interesting change is this:
Starting in 2025, people aged 60, 61, 62, or 63 who participate in workplace retirement plans can make even greater catch-up contributions of up to $11,250 instead of $7,500
Really good blog post: 14 Lessons About Money & Life From 40 Years of Living.
Compounding Is Underrated (Even When You Know It’s Magical)
The Biggest Factor in Making It = Making More Money
Money Is Not Your Most Valuable Resource
I’ve made many mistakes with money, but the one thing I did right: let my retirement funds compound (mostly) untouched. Trust the math, even when it feels pointless. One day, you’ll look at your retirement account and get a wonderful surprise. [We and all my clients have done this. And we look at what was accomplished and we are stunned. I am making my kids do exactly this. Actually, since my daughter started her first job late in the year, we set her 401k contribution to 65% to maximize her contribution for 2024…she just needs to survive on that small paycheck until January lol].
The best investment is the one with reasonable returns, but you can stick with for the longest time.
You can take on risk without being an idiot. Wanna invest into something high risk? Sure, but make sure the amount is properly sized. Not too big that it’d cripple you if the markets crash.
Quit the job you hate. But you don’t have to quit tomorrow. Work out a plan.
Launch that project you’ve always wanted to. But don’t expect to get rich within a year.
Take some risks in investing. But don’t risk your emergency funds.
Remember, money is not the goal. It’s just a tool to make your life better.
What’s more valuable than money? Time. Health. All the money in the world doesn’t mean anything to someone dying. Love. You can buy sex and companionship, but you’ll always be lonely without true love.
Excellent podcast: A Road Map for Navigating Medicare.
I have had several meetings with clients over the past few weeks. And in every one of them I encouraged them to spend more and yes they can quit their jobs. Which is really strange for a financial planer to do, isn’t it? I joked with them that their financial planner must be either really bad or really, really good lol. They all replied it is the latter #winning.
In case you missed it, we hit more market highs after the election results. It is what it is, remember, anything is possible short term. As I do client portfolio reviews these days, I am cashing out gains and rebalancing with no hesitation whatsoever.
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
This New York Times article was painful to read. We are seeing this a lot more lately, watch out for your elderly loved ones. Sometimes I wonder if there is a brainwash operation going on that just makes people lose it, just sad: They’re Giving Scammers All Their Money. The Kids Can’t Stop Them. One son couldn’t prevent his father from giving about $1 million in savings to con artists, including one posing as a female wrestling star. The two became estranged. Must read imho, ends in this devastating way:
“He lost all his money, his family relationships and was constantly stressed through it trying to get more and more money for them,” Mr. Mancinelli said. “I loved him. I wanted a close relationship with him, but it ruined it.”
Insightful article about this guy: What Makes Elon Tweet. A good account of the history of the most ridiculous things this guy has done. And I am afraid it is only going to get worse.
The history of modern capitalism is replete with the stories of visionary entrepreneurs who, inundated with societal worship and surrounded by well-paid yes men, go off the rails: the early eighteenth century South Sea Company’s John Blunt, the nineteenth century English railroad magnate George Hudson, early twentieth century utility king Samuel Insull, and a bumper crop of twenty-first century miscreants – Adam Neumann, Elizabeth Holmes, and Sam Bankman-Fried – to name but a few. Financial journalists would do well to emulate Conger and Mac’s eagle eye for the classic triad of financial disaster: charisma, megalomania, and fawning press coverage.
… on one side, the visionaries who power the modern world’s great explosions of wealth; and on the other, egos inflated by a steady drumbeat of public adulation and poisoned by the absence of feedback from petrified employees. This affliction, seen all too frequently at capitalism’s commanding heights, has been called by financial historian Edward Chancellor “a malignancy of the soul.” More often than not, it comes to a bad end.
I always liked to check out the latest monthly Ponzi Scheme Roundup from the Ponzi Scheme Blog, here is the one for October 2024.
William Berg, 52, was sentenced to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding investors out of more than $2 million. Berg was a financial advisor who sold life insurance and other financial products. [Look, this guy pretended to be a financial advisor. Beware of financial products salespeople! And RUN AWAY if they try to sell you a life insurance policy or an annuity first. You are welcome]
…he guaranteed returns of between 10% and 15%, representing that the investments were risk-free. [Also RUN when the “advisor” guarantees ANY return. Especially when that return is risk-free, come on!]
…Lopez represented that he had an advanced investment algorithm [Oh yeah, the proprietary trading strategy with an “advanced investment algorithm” behind it smh]
This blog is not going to blog itself. I rely on my readers helping it grow as I don’t have time to do any promotion/marketing. Which leaves the content clean of intrusive sponsoring posts and stupid ads and stuff like that.
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ODDZ & ENDZ
This hit home a little bit as I find my blog to fit the article: A recent surge of human-curated guidance is both a reaction against and an extension of the tyranny of algorithmic recommendations. Actually, I have been doing this here in my blog for years. The Banality of Online Recommendation Culture. But then the article goes way deeper and it is making me wonder if I am making any difference whatsoever…
For the obligatory amazing photography link: Finalists of the 2024 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Focus on the Wily and Witless.
If you ever worried about Earth running out of water, this should make you feel better. Water world – the distribution of all the water in the world:
TRAVEL
This is great: The 20 Best Art Museums in America.
Another gem: The Most Unique Hotel in Every State. With many gems, enjoy. Which one is your favorite to stay in at least once in a lifetime?
Selling hot air…literally: Lake Como in a can? “Air” from tourist destination on sale for $11 in Italy. Can you see White House air in a can on sale soon? I can.
If the above link had an international edition, I bet the one for the Philippines would be this one: Philippines resort features world’s largest chicken-shaped building.
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This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. Everything below deals with the hobby of collecting frequent flyer miles and points and maximizing your travel experiences. If you are not interested, you can stop here, thank you.
We have a lot to cover, fasten your seat belts!
We are in November so this is a really good catch all roundup: Year-End Credit Card Checklist for 2024: Travel Credits, Spend Reset, Application Strategy & More.
This is an ever moving target. Personally, I just do two $100 loads in my own United Travel Bank and fully expect at some point this loophole will also close: Here Is What Still Works For Your Amex Airline Incidental Credits.
Another positive feature of collecting miles with Capital One bank making it so much easier than other banks to do this: How to Combine Capital One Miles Between Cards & Other Cardmembers.
Oh, the Amex Black Card. The card you can not get. The card that has a $10,000 initiation fee and a $5,000 annual fee. This is the card people brag about. The only real benefit from it is that it offers a rebate of 50% on airfare redemptions. But wait, that was a little too costly for Amex so they are fixing it by limiting it at 3,000,000 Membership Rewards per year starting 2/1/25.
Speaking about the outfits we like to associate with this in this hobby, and keeping it with a tradition that only Marriott Bonvoy can do, here we go: Can Marriott Stays Become Even More Miserable? $100M Cost Cutting Program On The Horizon! Waiting for the press release shouting that this is an exciting change that will benefit the members immensely lol.
Looks like US Bank may finally put a stop on this card that was too good giving 3x on digital wallet purchases: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card To Be Discontinued Within Next Week. I never had this card, I am still traumatized with my interactions with this bank getting that amazing Club Carlson Visa years ago. Looking forward to learn about its new Smartly card coming.
So, the 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited card offer is over, it is now back to 75k. The CHASE Ink Business Cash has been down to 75k points for a while. I kept them in the list of the Top Four offers in the same #3 and #4 slots. The top offer is the CHASE Sapphire Preferred card offering 60k points AND a $300 statement credit. But this one is now ending on November 14. So, after November 14 all Chase offers are back to more normal levels. Hopefully, this is the calm before bigly offers come back. We shall see. After November 14, as it stands right now barring any surprises, the all mighty 75k Capital One Venture X will again be the #1 offer.
I get into my action items below after this from your sponsor, just kidding! Don’t give up reading now, there is more below.
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I am SHOCKED Capital One has kept this 75k Venture X offer for so long, there is no way in hell this will survive in 2025, hurry!
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The #2 Top Offer is the 75k Capital One Venture X card. It is amazing what you get for FREE with this card!
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Son managed to burn 50k Air Canada Aeorplan miles to book Honolulu to Singapore and he plans to join us all in Bangkok. I have wife, daughter, son + 1 all landing on the same date in BKK at different times! And I am leaving next week to attend the 2024 Extraordinary Travel Festival. Hope all the flights work out without major interruptions. I still need to book flights from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and have decided to fly out of the second Bangkok airport at Don Mueang for two reasons: I want to add another airport in my list and Air Asia flights are way cheaper there. Looking to book a Bangkok bike tour for five too.
I am close to burning 2 million miles/point this year, actually I am at 1,927,104. What is more insane is that I still have 4.3 million miles/points in the bank. First world problems you guys.
Son requalified for Alaska Airlines MVPGold elite again after the miles flying Korean and JAL posted successfully. Still waiting for the Hawaiian Airlines flight to post. Isn’t it amazing that both foreign airlines managed to do this pretty fast and the American airline that is merging with Alaska still has not figured it out.
I am at 43 World of Hyatt elite night credits. When I crossed 40 I earned another Guest of Honor cert and I need to pick one of: 5,000 World of Hyatt points, Suite Upgrade, $150 FIND Experience Credit. Leaning towards the easy 5k. No need for another suite upgrade award at this time as I do have one that I have not used yet. Need to research more about the FIND experience credit and perhaps add to the one $50 credit I already have #developing.
POST ELECTION AFTERMATH BLUES
I have no sponsors, this is my blog and I can blog whatever I want. I need to say a few words about the election.
First, congrats to the other side. You won. I respect and recognize that. How does it feel, how do I feel? I am sure many who voted for Harris feel the same way:
Devastating. Distraught. Depressing. What really stands out to me is that I am extremely disappointed that a majority of Americans chose Trump. So, America Did This to Itself. And now we all must suffer through it.
Let me excerpt a few things from this article:
So there was no excuse this year. We knew all we needed to know, even without the mendacious raging about Ohioans eating pets, the fantasizing about shooting journalists and arresting political opponents as “enemies of the people,” even apart from the evidence presented in courts and the convictions in one that demonstrated his abject criminality. We knew, and have known, for years. Every American knew, or should have known. The man elected president last night is a depraved and brazen pathological liar, a shameless con man, a sociopathic criminal, a man who has no moral or social conscience, empathy, or remorse. He has no respect for the Constitution and laws he will swear to uphold, and on top of all that, he exhibits emotional and cognitive deficiencies that seem to be intensifying, and that will only make his turpitude worse. He represents everything we should aspire not to be, and everything we should teach our children not to emulate. The only hope is that he’s utterly incompetent, and even that is a double-edged sword, because his incompetence often can do as much harm as his malevolence. His government will be filled with corrupt grifters, spiteful maniacs, and morally bankrupt sycophants, who will follow in his example and carry his directives out, because that’s who they are and want to be.
My own hope and belief about what would transpire last night was sadly and profoundly wrong—like many, I have the emotional and intellectual flaw, if that’s what it is, of assuming that people are wiser and more decent than they actually turn out to be. I feel chastened—distraught—about my apparently naive view of human nature. [Same]
Let me say a few more things just to clear my system and try to be cathartic and stuff like that.
Obviously, inflation mattered a lot more than I expected. Of course it hurts everyone. But wages kept up with it. You should be in Europe where in Greece my mother has not seen a single euro increase in her pension since 2016 and the post Covid inflation makes ours here look like peanuts. Oh, her pension was cut about 25% back when the country was almost kicked out of the European Union. So please spare me making this the deciding factor to bring back this guy to govern to fix it ok? Let’s see what happens and where you all stand in four years. Can’t wait for Trump to bring inflation down, solve the Russia Ukraine war in less than 24 hours, secure the border (lol), replace Obamacare with a plan that never came and there is now a concept for it, etc. And just wait until brain damaged Robert Kennedy Jr becomes in charge of health care. And so many lunatics to join this circus. Don’t worry about me and most readers of this blog, we’ll be okay. But I am afraid most of the Trump voters will get really hurt. Badly. But hey, as long as they feel good about owning the libs, harassing the trans kids, hunting the illegals to deport them (that will do wonders for inflation!), sticking tariffs to the Chinese (don’t get me started about what that does to inflation ok?) and I can go on and on and on. I feel so bad for the brave Ukrainians too.
To all the black and Latino voters and all the Arabs near me in Dearborn who voted for Trump: WTF is wrong with you? Well, you will find out. As George above closed his article with:
Let us brace ourselves
I have more to get out of my system. This was not even close, it was a bloodbath for the Democrats. Trump has a mandate. Don’t give me crap about democracy blah blah blah. Democracy spoke and the message is clear, the majority chose Trump. Time to really look within and see what went wrong. Choosing two elitist ladies that just never connected personally with voters was a horrendous idea. Don’t get me wrong, I think both were highly qualified to run this country. And Kamala…where the hell was she while being Vice President? And Biden obviously stuck around too long when he should have come out and said I am not running again, let the primaries take place and unite under a chosen candidate to campaign for the whole season instead of a few months, too late for her to connect with voters. But, I mean, has she ever really connected with voters? The ultimate politician and voters preferred a real candidate who speaks his mind and just says AND believes insane racist shit non stop. But at least he is real…I guess. For the life of me I can never understand that people believe that this guy really cares for their welfare more than any Democrat. But I digress.
The US economy is the envy of the world. Inflation is almost back to the target level of 2%. There are issues with housing, sure, I am sure Trump has a plan to fix that too lol. We are at full employment. I don’t understand how the party in government could not sell that. Inflation never would have happened after Covid if the pandemic was handled the right way from the very beginning instead of its disastrous handling of it (remember someone wanted to inject us with bleach WTF!) and so many dead. Can you imagine another pandemic hitting us? You know, this happened: Monkey mayhem in South Carolina after 43 primates escape research facility. This is how one of my all time favorite movies 28 Days Later started. In a way, I think we are all still working through the traumatic impact Covid had on all of us.
I am taking some steps to keep my sanity for the insanity that we are going to endure over the next four years. Enjoy the last two normal months you guys. I am going to try to avoid keeping up with all the politics fireworks that would be coming out of Washington DC every single day. And I am finally taking the Twitter app off my phone. Over this weekend I am going to post some farewell tweets and then I am killing it, as in never tweeting again. The time has come to put an end to a platform that I loved. Delete Your Account. For Real This Time. I am going to focus on positive things all around me. And my health, especially my mental health. And do more of this:
use the stress of this election to be the final push needed to step away from the exhausting digital chatter that’s been dominating your brain
Or I am just going to Thailand and come back in 2028.
Stay positive, be kind, be respectful, improve the community around you, pray for us and humanity, get involved and…brace for impact.
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MILES & POINTS
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As of today, I have burned 1,927,404 miles/points year to date (1,148,286 in 2023) and have 4,296,348 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
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George
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Only four more years until the next Most Important Election Of Our Lifetime! Who are the favorites in 2028?
(In all seriousness: if anybody was surprised by the election results, you’re a bubble-dweller and I would hope you reconsider your information sources.)
George, I hope you have a great time in Thailand and I look forward to reading a full trip report. We don’t have any exotic trips planned in our household but we did recently find a Mediterranean house gecko in our basement so that added a Euro flair to things. Apparently they’re a relatively benign invasive species and I had no idea they existed even though my kids love lizards and had a few locally-caught green anoles as pets.
Looking forward to a great trip report!
Thanks for the links …
No, the next important election will be the midterms in 2026 🙂
I was surprised because I was naive like the other George. Can’t do anything about it now, sad.
“They are eating the geckos” coming soon? Lol. Had no idea…
There will not be any full blown trip reports, those take FOREVER to put together. So, follow on Instagram, I will try to keep up over there. Maybe add a few pics here and there. I should just unplug and enjoy serenity without digital things. Then again, when I take Twitter off my phone it would be way better.
I am surprised I have not received any shit from Trump fans yet. Unlike Twitter LOL.
Thanks to the two readers for the coffees, much appreciated. I felt so much better about unloading my post election aftermath blues.
Can’t wait for RFK to kill us all smh.
Good links and GREAT commentary. Sorry I have not sent coffee recently, I will get on that shortly. I looked at that list for October’s Ponzi schemers and just wonder how darned easy it is for people to get scammed and duped by so many scumbags. Unbelievable to me, at least.
I had read that article about the guy watching his dad lose all his money and all the other people who also fall for scammers. It seems the threat of years in prison does not deter nearly enough people from perpetrating these awful things. Maybe cutting off body parts would work? I actually don’t believe in that but it amazes me the risks scammers take. Easy money is a lure for scammers and scammees (is it a word? I made it up) both.
Have a fun trip and hope all goes smoothly and well for you and all the family!
I can only hope he dies in office. I don’t know what they all saw in that traitorous criminal.
A problem with Trump’s expiring in office would be the vice president ascending to the throne. VP Vance has so little political experience, and has uttered such wild views, that it would almost be preferable for Trump to continue. And don’t even hope the VP expires, because next in line would be the Speaker of The House, Mike Johnson, as evangelical as they come.
I think there is a high probability Trump dies in the next four years. Probably choking on a Big Mac. I am more hopeful on Vance, the guy is not stupid. He played his cards, he went all in and he is a step away from the Presidency. It was all an act and he played it well. I am hoping he has another act and some decency will prevail. Or maybe I am just disillusioned and out of touch as I was confident my fellow Americans will not vote to return Trump to the White House. It is going to get really wild, epic shit is coming, every single day. Sometimes I feel like I am not up for all that again. And sometimes I feel like ready to fight to preserve this ship.
#Developing
And buckle up.
Not a fan of Trump, but also not a fan of these sort of comments either.
Ok, I could be doing posts “Chase Sapphire Preferred best ever offer, ends 11/17/24, HURRY!!!’ but instead I comment in my own blog as it comes to me. It is what it is, thanks for taking the time to comment.
@ Carl: No worries about the coffees, you have done more than everyone else. Yeah, cutting off body parts….slowly 🙂 Scammees? It does have a ring to it, so many out there lately. Thanks again.
@ Peggy: I am starting to think the pandemic really caused many brains to get phucked. No other way to explain this we chose this guy to be back. We deserve what we get. Amen.
Highly recommend this type (self directed) bike tour of the “Green Lung” (Bang Krachao) A side of Bangkok one would never imagine exists amidst the frenzy that is Bangkok.
https://www.bucketlistly.blog/posts/bang-krachao-travel-guide-things-to-do
Thank you, this looks great. I will check it out while spending hours in the Boston Chase Sapphire Lounge 🙂
Let’s get back on track…
Citi will start its own lounges titled Strata Lounges.
Just when I am about to check out my first Sapphire Lounge in Boston.
We are so thankful we relocated outside the US so we can limit our exposure to the shitshow of the elections. Think it’s time for the Dems to look within and change their message. Trump voters did not give a toss about democracy which seemed to be the focus of the Dems. The Dems need to flush out all the stale old pensioners and bring in new exciting blood. They need to focus on things other than woke messaging about transgender rights. I consider myself quite liberal and I was sick of hearing about it and frustrated about how much energy was spent on pronouns and which bathroom they could all use. As for Trump, well I hope that he screws over all the little guys who voted for him because you know “he gets them” He will screw them without a doubt, I’ll sit back and enjoy the tax breaks he gives me at their expense. Oh and as for those who voted for Trump because he is not going to tax tips, I’ve decided when I am in the US I will lower my tips from 25% to 10% as they don’t need as much if they are not paying taxes.
I know what you mean, I really don’t want to live next to these people who chose Trump. This Thailand trip was going to be another check out visit for a possible after retirement move. I am going to take some steps to learn more about it though because the more I sit back and contemplate what we are in for the next four years I feel so…tired and just don’t feel up for it. But my clients need me so we’ll go ahead redoing the kitchen and master bathroom lol.
I have two more great articles about the election that do a great job explaining wtf happened. I don’t t want to turn my blog into a politics focus…but I can’t help it. Not like I care about page views and revenue from ads you know.
I am deleting Twitter at the end of the day. For anyone who communicated with me with that right wing propaganda shit hole, please find another way. Email, Instagram, Threads, Linked in even lol.
The Dems have a lot of work to do. I am not sure they focused on “woke messaging and transfender rights”. It is the perception they did sold by Fox News and the right wing media that feeds itself to a vast segment of the population. And THAT is the main reason they lost. And that needs to be fixed asap before it is too late…well, it is too late already and we all now need to survive the next four years.
Yeah, me and you will enjoy paying fewer taxes for sure. It is all the people who fell for the BS who will get hurt. And, you know, they deserve it this time.
I am a big tipper always. Wife’s siblings are in Michigan, went to a great local Korean restaurant, reservation for 15, I paid for it with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card of course. Short staffed (not enough immigrants lol) and the lady taking care of us did an amazing job, gave her $100 and she thanked me several times. I have not decided yet if the tip tax measure (if it ever passes) will change my inclination to tip well. I was a waiter while in college, I always help them.
Get ready for some wild shit and I envy you not being around here living through the madness.
Yup, the right wing media created the drama around transgender rights and woke messaging. I did not hear a single democrat talk about it. The biggest winner in this election, Peter Thiel. The tech boys/billionaire are winning.
You are about to start seeing a reversal in economic, well, everything…that it will be amazing.
Europe needs to put on its big-boy pants. The post cold war is long over and especially DE needs to show if it’s serious about Zeitenwende (unlike building nuclear plants) and strengthen EU with France ( move faster with the core of EU and let the periphery and PIGS join or not). Will there be any action on the Draghi report? Time to focus on the heart of Europe. Historically, the US benefited from having an external enemy (Soviet union). Will the EU?
You are absolutely right, Europe must get its shit together asap. Hopefully they do. But its dysfunction is going to be very hard to overcome sadly.
Thiel won, to be sure, and will win even further when Vance slithers into the presidency. The biggest winner, however, was Putin.
If you don’t mind my asking, where did you choose to relocate? I’m not sure I’ll take that path but things are looking grim and always best to keep your options open.
Christian, if you are referring to my relocation we moved back to Australia which was an easy move for us as we have dual citizenship. Life is so much simpler here, we have one of those communist socialised medical systems, which is brilliant as even though we have taken out private health insurance here it’s less than $400 a month vs the $2400 we were paying in Hawaii in 2023.
I just deactivated my professional Twitter account
RIP @feeonlyplanner
Can not participate in Elon Musk’s shit show any longer.
On the other hand, just hit the weight low for the year, woohoo!
Good morning Buzz,
That was a rough week for many of us. I think we should probably change a few things at this point. “Land of the grifter, home of the adjudicated rapist” has an honest ring to it. And let’s be frank about it, this country has been taken over by grifters. We could be on the way to becoming a “shithole country” ourselves. I realize this could be overly dramatic, I’ll try to be patient.
After running my own business for over 35 years, I have seen a dramatic shift in the way many people I do business with have changed. Honesty is no longer an asset to my business and in a sense has become a serious liability.
My wife and I have been planning a move out of the country for several years, however the bleach treatment for the Covid flu did not work for me. Nor the light stick up my ass. I can’t understand why. The president said it would be ok. I distinctly remember him saying it was just like the flu…hmmm. If I can’t trust the president, gosh, who can you trust?
I’m not so worried about the orange blob, he’s just a vehicle. Let’s think about how much damage Musk and the radical evangelicals can and have already done to this country. Grifters, liars and swindlers plain and simple. I have to agree, the right wing media bears much responsibility for our predicament. The truth is a liability.
Enough already, time to look forward to better days. I must admit I wish I could make the upcoming conference in Thailand but it’s not in the cards at the moment. I have never been to Thailand but it looks lovely. Have a great, relaxing and entertaining trip Buzz.
I will continue to stay in touch via email as I can’t bring myself to subscribe to any form of social media, I just don’t feel like I have the time for it even if I wanted to participate.
Thank you again sir for hanging in there all these years, your blog is truly a gift for us and your honesty has always been appreciated.
My best to you and your family Buzz!
David,
i will be here next Friday I think/hope. And you wills still get the posts via email.
I am done with Twitter, it was time to go. Yesterday.
I think the next four years will be some wild epic shit. The American business people will find a way to make money. It’s just going to be some wild grifters in the front line, that’s all.
Anyway, thanks for the support and kind words. Much appreciated.
And now I gotta get to my barber lol.
I am absolutely devastated about this election. May God help us all.
We are all in this together. Unless I stay in Thailand that is, sad lol.
We just need to survive the next four years. And then Trump is all done, he can’t run for a third term, THANK GOD!
Some of the incoming admistration picks…
You voted for this.
Going to be a 4 year run of epic shit like we have never seen before!
Fox News dude heading defense, puppy shooting Governor heading Homeland Security and Matt Gaetz Attorney General LOL.
and the two asshiles heading a new depth that spells DOGE.
And we are only a week from the election…oh boy.
To all celebrating…you are not in the right tax brackets to celebrate!