Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as more on bear markets and economy, Ukraine travel, monkeypox, nuclear explosions, why crypto should die in a fire and how psychos are attracted to it, most beautiful US lakes, walled cities, JetBlue insists on buying Spirit, aerial photos for the aviation geeks, Putin blows, Mariupol horrors, the history behind the Chow Mein brand, a guy whose memory lasts just seconds, more interesting maps, the latest travel rewards credit cards signup bonuses where you can win against the banks, some personal updates and a lot more! This should keep you busy over the next week. Avoid clicking on clickbait crap that screams for attention, be very mindful of what you click on!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
Support TBB by applying for CREDIT CARDS or visiting our LINKS or Donate
You like my blog? Send a link to someone please!
This blog publishes every Friday in the month of May 2022.
Best of Web articles are truly exceptional and must reads, imho.
I use and recommend Proton VPN <——REFERRAL LINK
PERSONAL FINANCE
You probably feel down as you look at your portfolio these days. Maybe, you know, stop looking at it and instead go outside for a walk or a run? Anyway, this is an excellent article that you probably need to read right now: Capitulation Playbook. The most important on the list are the last two imho, Avoid Leverage and Stick to Your Plan…assuming you have one, right?
Best of Web: The complicated mess of the markets and economy, explained. Absolutely nails it where we stand…Again, nobody knows where it goes in the short term!
Best of Web: Why This Computer Scientist Says All Cryptocurrency Should “Die in a Fire”. Wow…vicious beatdown of crypto that makes my former beatings of it look like child’s play!
When markets tumble, you see a lot of bear market related blog posts out there. Understandably so. Things You See In Every Bear Market. I have to agree with them:
…someone invariably proclaims buy and hold investing is dead.
…someone makes a name for themselves.
…some asset class, strategy or investment doesn’t behave like it’s supposed to. Diversification itself often gets called into question.
…FOMO (fear of missing out) turns into TGINIT (thank God I’m not in that).
… it feels like the end of the world is near while it’s happening.
…some Wall Street strategist who was uber-bullish leading up to the correction pretends they saw it coming and talks about how they were raising cash leading up to the peak.
…someone on financial television says they’re cautiously optimistic.
…we get some technical analyst who makes a 1987 or 1929 analogy using an overlay chart that makes it look like we’re gonna get the mother of all crashes yet again.
…investors quote either Warren Buffett or Mike Tyson.
…investors wish they held more cash.
…it feels like the selling will never come to an end.
What are the Four Horsemen of Investing? They are: complexity, concentration, leverage and illiquidity. These can hurt you as an investor! Keep it simple (which is beautiful), spread your eggs in several baskets, avoid leverage and make sure you can get out by clicking your mouse instead of having your funds locked up for a while.
This headline makes me shout “I knew it!” lol: People with dark personality traits tend to be more enthusiastic about Bitcoin, study finds. You get conspiracies, Machiavellianism and sadism all in the same article wow!
TRAVEL
I always wanted to go see Crater Lake in Oregon, what is the best month to go? Here are the 12 Most Beautiful Lakes in the United States.
Interesting: Six walled cities that have preserved their walls. I know some of them of course but some of them will…shock you. Ooops, sorry, been seeing way too many clickbait headlines out there! I have been to the one in Quebec!
For airline news I go to The Cranky Flier to find out about the latest saga: JetBlue Gets Hostile With Spirit, Appeals to Shareholders to Fight.
This whole thing is just bananas, since you have JetBlue on one side saying its experts believe something and then Spirit on the other side saying its experts belive the exact opposite. Spirit says it is reviewing JetBlue’s proposal, but I see no reason why it would change its mind. There’s nothing improved in this compared to what Spirit already rejected.
I LOVE these photos! Aerial Photos by Bernhard Lang Capture the Largest Aircraft Boneyard in the World.
UKRAINE WAR
Michael McFaul, the former Russia Ambassador, nailed it on this Twitter thread: What has Putin done for Russians lately?
Best of Web: Notes on Ukraine. From a traveler, wow! The notes on the Foreign Legion were the most surprising by far.
I am blown away how well the Ukrainians have handled this war…from a web/social media perspective too! Here they go with a Virtual Museum of War!
Please, stop any complaining, nothing compares to what the Ukrainians are going through! Captive medic’s bodycam shows firsthand horror of Mariupol.
So, George W. Bush decides to stop painting and comes back with a speech to condemn Putin’s invasion of Iraq LOL. Remember, this is the guy who had looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul! But let’s go on making of Biden’s gaffes smh…
COVID-19
Get more free Covid tests from the government!
So many waves out there…
And now, monkey what? Best of Web: So, Have You Heard About Monkeypox? Latest by Ed Yong of The Atlantic. I must admit, when I first heard about this I thought…smallpox and I was all like “wait, I thought we eradicated that one already, no?”. I feel better after reading this but still…all it would take is some weird variation to…Oh wait, need to stay positive. Wait, maybe that is not a proper expression anymore. Here is an archived version of the article.
ODDZ & ENDZ
I had no clue about the story behind this company, wow! The Korean Immigrant and Michigan Farm Boy Who Taught Americans How to Cook Chow Mein. I enjoyed this read and no I have not used Chow Mein products, my wife will never allow it!
But the sauce thickens when you consider the duo that began it all. Somehow it was a Korean immigrant named Ilhan New and an American named Wallace “Wally” Smith who teamed up in Great Depression–era Detroit to build an empire that would eventually make “Chinese” a go-to home-cooked meal for much of America. This unique pairing of cultural backgrounds, as well as La Choy’s central location in the heartland, positioned the brand well, fueling success that is still enjoyed today. Yet neither founder would stick around to see its legacy for long: New returned to Korea in the mid-1920s, founding a pharmaceutical giant there and passing away in 1971; Smith was killed by a freak lightning strike in 1937.
Another story that will blow your mind! Can you imagine living with a condition that does not allow you to remember anything that happened more than a few seconds ago? Oliver Sacks on music and amnesia.
Well, I sure hope we don’t add more! The Top 10 Largest Nuclear Explosions.
I am not sure by the “forever” term in this headline but some of them sure may! 40 Interesting And Informative Maps That Might Change The Way You Look At The World Forever. We need more trains in the US!
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 80k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 75k CHASE Business Hyatt, 75k Capital One Venture X, 75k CHASE Ink Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 60k CHASE World of Hyatt Visa, 50k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 60k CITI Premier, 20k CHASE Freedom Flex, up to 30k CHASE Freedom Unlimited, 70k CHASE United Explorer, 140k IHG Rewards Premier, 3 FREE Nights with Chase Bonvoy Boundless, 20k CITI Custom Cash, and many more, including many AmericanExpress cards, including Delta, Marriott and Hilton cards! Please check out my Affiliate links. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you? Contact me!
This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! Feel free to skip this section and parts of the next one if this is not for you.
Newbies: The BEST thing to do in your personal finances is to STOP immediately paying interest to the banks on your credit cards. Until you do that, you should not be reading how to get more credit cards!
The best anchor type travel rewards credit cards from Chase and Capital One are: Chase Sapphire Preferred now offering 80,000 points as signup bonus and Capital One Venture X now offering 75,000 points as signup bonus. The 80k CSP offer appears to be ending 5/31/2022. You can apply for them to support this blog with my Credit Card Links, thank you.
Interestingly, Capital One bank raised the signup bonus to its plain vanilla Venture Rewards card to be the same AS the Venture X card! Capital One Venture Signup Bonus: 75,000 Points With $4,000 Spend. Remember, if you got the Venture X card within the past six months…you are likely to get denied getting this card. Maybe wait after six months pass to apply.
The higher Hilton Honors signup bonuses are back! We now have 130,000 Hilton Honors signup bonus for the two $95 annual fee cards (Surpass and Business) for just $2k minimum spend AND up to $130 statement credits. And 100,000 signup bonus for the no annual fee card AND up to $100 statement credit. I mean, if you are responsible with your credit, this could be a money maker for you and a tiny hit on the marketing expense for the bank? Yep, available HERE, thank you!
I guess this is not a bad promo…if you are into IHG. You may be able to use the new status for status matches: IHG One Rewards Status Challenge For Platinum & Diamond (Register By July 31, 2022).
Latest hotel promotions to register for:
4x points with IHG One Rewards
Stay Twice and Earn a Free Night with Wyndham Rewards
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
Really good info for more advanced hobbyists on credit card annual fees, upgrade offers and bypassing card limits: Credit Card Conversion Shenanigans. And this folks:
- Keep a card open for a minimum of 12 months after opening
- Never downgrade a card to a lower annual fee within 12 months of opening or upgrading
I am almost back to running at full speed after fully recovering from the Toledo Marathon on April 24. Next races are: Dexter-Ann Arbor half marathon on June 5 and a 10k in Royal Oak, Michigan on June 12. I must change my routine to get out there before the sun comes up as the heat lately is making the running a lot more painful than it should be.
You know what is the most clicked item on line? The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial! What is wrong with people smh…
As soon as I saw the video of the China Eastern Airlines Boeing that crashed recently…I had no doubt it was intentional. Brings back horrific memories of the Lufthansa pilot that crashed in the Alps…Just the thought of a psycho pilot doing this on our flights makes me want to…drive my Ford Flex!
I am really proud when I click “Publish” on each post. Enjoy another blog post and stay healthy my friends.
Let me leave you with this…
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy it please pass it on to a family member or friend, thank you!
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is. Or use 12ft Ladder. Or the Firefox browser.
TBB
travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com
Follow TBB on Twitter @FlyerTalkerinA2.
You can subscribe to TBB below, winners only!
Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
First!
The computer scientist interview about crypto was great. There should be some good books written about the rise and fall of crypto when all is said and done. I used to be agnostic on Bitcoin but now I’m more inclined to think it’s going to zero.
Silver! For the glory of Italy! Crypto is a scam but I cannot figure how it benefits some folks at all. I won’t touch that or NFTs at all.
Great stuff as always George! Thanx!!
Great Stuff George.
The crypto scam unravel is so amusing to witness. I totally recommend Coffeezilla on Youtube. He has been slamming these cryptobros for a while. Next domino to fall is Tether.
On the Ryanair tweet, which is great, the best is their follow ups. That Twitter team is savage. Some loser with a bored monkey NFT profile pic didn’t appreciate the trolling and Ryanair answer was if he owned that monkey picture. Instant classic
Hey George, oregonian here. Best time for crater lake is probably July. Most of the snow has melted and the forest fires have not started yet. Coming from out of state, your unknown variable is the fires. If there are no fires, September would be best as the crowds die down after students go back to school after Labor Day.
@ Nick @ PFD: It may not go to zero, always accept that we may be wrong. I am not touching it…
@ Carl: Following your Italy travels on Facebook…Dude, how many plates do you have?
@ Peteco: Thanks for the Youtube recommendation, I will check it out. And I think I should add RyanAir to the Twitter accounts I follow, thanks again.
@ Nathaniel: Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for. Oh yeah…the fires, did not think about that. Sign of our times!
Sprinklers are on and my lawn is ready to make a comeback. Not sure about this stock market though #sarcasm. Going to be a hot day here in Ann Arbor, it was 78 degrees at 6 am, wow. 10 miles biking today…
Crypto.com Made A New Matt Damon Ad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSIbAD7AOO8&t=63s
LOL
“You can’t speak crypto without cry” loll
Really great post Buzz, thanks for the reading material and just in time for flight to Italy.
Loved the article from the computer scientist. Yes the boneyard in Tucson is quite impressive and beyond massive.
Good luck with the training and enjoy your Sunday.
We’re in Chicago atm, a wee bit cooler than Tucson
Enjoy Italy David!
With one conversion in April and in May and so many still supporting the crap unleashed by the sites here https://travelbloggerbuzz.com/blog-reviews/blogs-i-ignore/
it is finally becoming apparent that blogging and losing money (I am not even counting the hours I work for free, sad!), while also losing income due to the market drop….I don’t think this blog may see a 10 year anniversary.
And with yet another horrific shooting and the same phucking assholes doing nothing at all…the end may be near.
Great massive post coming this Friday. Changes are coming…
Hug your kids and vote the gun crazies out!