I bring you the best curated links such as details about the third stimulus, meme stocks, tips to find vaccine, Europe awards, travel virtually to visit famous buildings, hoping to get to Thailand, the best Covid-19 coverage, learn about SPACs, online shopping portal bonus promotions, watch Earth rise, look at more amazing photography, and lots more for you!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
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TOP PICKS
Top picks are for truly exceptional content.
This is a must read, wow.
The Quest to Unlock the Mysteries of Long COVID
TRAVEL
We are still stuck so travel with your computer instead! 10 virtual tours of spectacular buildings around the world.
My friend did the quarantine in Bangkok and doing it like this here in the US is unthinkable! Oh yeah, the death rates between the two countries is unthinkable too smh. Thailand Plans to Relax Quarantine Period for Vaccinated Visitors.
What a view…
COVID-19
I still feel they can make these more clear but…it is what it is: Fully vaccinated people can visit with nearby grandchildren, dine indoors with one another, CDC says. And here is the actual CDC text.
Meanwhile, over in Brazil, where Bolsonaro continues to kill his own people trying to out dumb Trump and is doing great at it smh: World’s Worst Covid Crisis Is Unfolding in Brazil, Where No Fix Seems to Work.
This is very emotional, you have been warned: What It’s Like to Lose Someone to Covid-19. And imagine over a half million people lost in this nightmare. I think we are all being traumatized by this tragedy every day…I guess it did not just magically disappear or just went away…
I saw this site recommended in credible sources: Dr. B – The standby list for leftover COVID vaccines. Sign up if your turn is not in yet for a vaccine and can be flexible in dropping everything to get to that vaccination site near you that is about to throw them away!
I am getting vaccinated on Tuesday! I have more details and tips in the BLOG BUZZ section below.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Here we go again with Stimulus Round #3! $1,400 checks are coming in the new coronavirus relief bill. Here’s who will get them, and who won’t. We will be talking about the package for a while: President Joe Biden’s COVID stimulus bill explained in 6 charts.
We all love Chase travel rewards credit cards here. But they also come up with some really good material sometimes. Excellent slides here: Guide to Retirement by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
This is very educational, I am sure you heard of them by now: SPACs, the investment term you won’t stop hearing about, explained. Article ends with:
For now, SPACs are in a very buzzy space, but when the buzz stops, they’re liable to sting.
CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
This deserves a Top Pick but since I have no material for this section I am sliding it in here, even though the place for it is in Personal Finance. But it is the BEST read to explain the insane current investing environment!
GME, Doge, Supreme: How Getting Rich Went Full Internet
ODDZ & ENDZ
I can watch this all day long: Full Earth Rise.
Love this: 2020 World Nature Photography Awards.
MILES & POINTS
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS: 75k CHASE Ink Cash, 75k CHASE Ink Unlimited, 100k CHASE Ink Business Preferred, 60k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 60k CITI Premier, 65k CITI Business AA Platinum Select, 50k CITI AA Platinum Select, 20k CHASE Freedom Flex & CHASE Freedom Unlimited, 75k AMEX Platinum, 85k AMEX Business Platinum, 50k CHASE World of Hyatt, 150k AMEX Hilton Business & Hilton Surpass (and $150 credit!), 100k AMEX Hilton Card (and $100 credit!), 150k AMEX Hilton Aspire, $300 AMEX Blue Cash Preferred, $300 AMEX Blue Cash Everyday, 140k CHASE IHG Rewards Club Premier, and many more! Please use my Affiliate links.
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: Many blogs in this space are in the business of selling you travel rewards credit cards. Because that is where the money is. Never forget that and please support small independent blogs before they quit, it is a very lonely and thankless job of being such a blogger…
This post links to three shopping portal promotions by AA, Delta and Alaska Airlines.
American Airlines also took advantage of its frequent flyer program to raise $7.5 Billion. For the record, United raised $6.8 Billion and Delta raised $9 Billion. Where will these airlines be without these programs…
Well, I guess we can bookmark this: Best ways to get to Europe with miles or money.
If you are looking ahead, you may want to bookmark this resource: How Far In Advance Can I Book A Flight? A Chart Of Each Airline’s Policy.
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.
Never doubt the newbie market that the top commercial blogs keep pounding to sell them more plastic. Just take a look at all the job openings at The Points Guy, wow!
A friend of mine told me former smokers is one of the groups of people who are allowed to be vaccinated. I did not believe him. I looked it up and it is true, for Michigan at least. So, the operation “find a vaccine” started. It is one of the reasons (among others) that I have not published a new post since…Monday! I visit the Vaccine Spotter website, clicked on Michigan and bookmarked it and…kept refreshing the page! When you see a brand new opening, you click over to the RiteAid link and you fill out your information and hopefully you DO qualify. You can specify the location on the Rite Aid questionnaire page and make sure you make it whatever city just posted new openings in the Vaccine Spotter website. At some point, you will find that it leads you to the appointment page but you can still be shut out because someone else booked it a few seconds before you. Just play around on this page, keep clicking on the times ( morning, afternoon, evenings) and also click on the actual date on the calendar…I found for a few days trying this during the day only lead to pure waste of time and frustration. But when you wake up around 4 am…oh, what a difference! As soon as an opening posted, I got on it and that specific pharmacy had times available one whole day next week. I think it helped that it is located in a small town in mid Michigan so thank YOU Trump voters who obviously you are not in a rush to get vaccinated as you are all doing your research lol. I think we are going to have plenty of vaccines for everyone much sooner than we anticipated. In the meantime, do not let your guard down! Update: This morning I had an email from my doctor’s office with a link to schedule my vaccine, many openings! I am going to keep the appointment to go get stabbed in Ionia, Michigan because I do not want to go through the hassle of canceling it…
I am starting to become a fan of full body cryotherapy!
Thanks to Paypal donor Tim, this blog post is dedicated to you, thank you for your support. I have no idea when the next blog post will come here…
And I leave you with this…
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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.
ALWAYS a good start to ANY day: a new TBB post! Favorite today: Earthrise…
ICYMI: AA now up to $10 BILLION. Surprised there’s any red ink left after the Fed cornered the market.
Off I go, inspired, educated, entertained, and — dare I say it — stimulated…
#TBBon
Good morning!
I’ll off this afternoon … first trip since the virus hit. We shall see.
Good that you’ve an appointment to get vaccinated.
Thanks so much for sharing vaccinespotter. I just received my second dose (Moderna), but I shared that link with some co-workers who were still searching for vaccines. Also, while clicking through that Best Ways to Get to Europe article, I found this link to an interesting artist: thomasdambo.com
Thanks as always for all that you do. Stay well.
Anyone know the answer to this?
My 2019 AGI is too high (barely) to get anything from the latest $1,400 payout. But my 2020 AGI is so low that it might be less than TBB EBITDA. If I had already filed for 2020, the IRS would use 2020 and I’d get the max. But since I can’t file 2020 yet, they will use 2019 and I’ll get zilch.
The question: Will they eventually true this up so everyone’s payout is based on 2020?
You will be able to claim the $1,400 when you file your 2020 tax return as a tax credit (due April 15, 2021).
There are many variations of this that it can all be so damn confusing without any precedence with IRS totally flabbergasted and tax professionals seriously needing their own therapist by now…
Unless IRS can find a way to…manage to make another pass in its totally antiquated computers sometime later on after most tax returns have been filed and identifies taxpayer in your situation.
Thanks, Buzz, for the very helpful advice.
Looks like there is a “date” for this…90 days from filing deadline or September 1st, whichever is earlier. They left it vague because there are very strong indications that the IRS will allow a filing extension for all. Therefore, if you can file now do it. If there is an extension to June 15…just make sure you file by September 1st. Actually, allow minimum two weeks to make sure it will show up when IRS does its sweep. This of course all assumes efiling. The ones filing paper returns…sending thoughts and prayers as the IRS still fights to process at least a few million 2019 paper tax returns, sad lol.
Thanks Buzz, lots of great material as usual. Awesome pics, and the vaccine link is incredibly helpful.
Good luck with the healing and have a great weekend!
I’ve been telling all my NJ friends to start smoking. Cigarettes, not crack!
Hello all, thanks for taking the time to comment.
I am buried and trying to find time to keep blogging is really reaching an impossible point. Not managing to sell a single credit card sure is contributing to this existential mode…something I have been dealing way too many years lol.
I am going to kill the Current Events/Politics section. And continue even be more eclectic here and taking the higher road before I give up because I can not see myself turning into a clickbait tabloid sycophant whore.
You all enjoy your weekend while we go way deep into the Third stimulus law…please, do not be too demanding of your tax pro, give them some SPACE and don’t bitch at the higher fee too!
The Seychelles will reach “herd immunity” this month thanks to vaccine diplomacy by UAE and India
4.58 vaccine doses in the US today!
Do you get paid for any type of AMZN purchase or only select categories?
Most encouraging is that it was…Saturday! If we can only keep tthat up!
Gift cards no…
Categories earnings % change all the time!
Got excited when reader told me he is going to apply for an Amex card with my links. FINALLY, I will make the FIRST cc sale this month. A few minutes later “Sorry TBB, I got the pop up box”…And the mother of all droughts continues in March…just sad. You all enjoy the weekend now!
Hey Buzz,
I was thinking. Many Republicans think that life begins at inception.
So how does that work with the child tax credit? Think about it.
Then there’s head of household provisions.
Life does begin at inception
– Chris Nolan, probably
Thinking to take a pic of my zero conversions, mix them up, add some color and, voila, turn into a NFT digital art.
Taking bids now…
Or maybe Beeple can buy me out, Travel Blogger Beeple LOL.
The worst credit card conversion drought in this blog’s history is still on!
If this blog can not sell just one credit card per month, I mean, how absolutely pathetic huh? I will quit if this happens. Decision is final. Come on!
Thanks for an amazing Amazon day, $24.55 yesterday.
This can all be taken care of if the credit card people just take my links away as this blog has not reached 10 cc sales per month in years lol!
Blog that was founded to make fun of credit card shills threatens to close shop if it fails to shill any credit cards.
For me, churning was over in 2019, it was great 20-year run! I got tired of so many denials. You blog is real interesting and I will miss it if goes away.
Thanks for the kind words, Dante. I have slowed way down because I can not take rejection well 🙂 Anyway, a reader got a cc late last night so my blog will live on a little longer to piss off haters like that weird dude above you who is jealous I am still standing!
@weirdo troll: For the record, this blog was not founded to make fun of credit card shills. But it will continue to educate, entertain and inspire. Yeah, it is indeed weird thinking about closing shop after more than 8 years as it appears I am horrible in shilling plastic. But a kind reader got one cc late last night, it will go towards the costs and TBB lives on so you are welcome for reading and commenting and not supporting…And thanks to the readers who use my Amazon link, another $16 yesterday, a double digit $$ for two days in a row is indeed rare.
I am perfectly okay to generate some money blogging to at the very least cover my costs because this blog was not founded to make money…if that was not clear by now lol.
See you on Monday
I’m a bit of linguistics nerd so I found this map interesting. I’ve heard of most of these…
https://twitter.com/onlmaps/status/1370439085622321152/photo/1
…but Tsakonian was completely new to me. George, are you familiar with this language? From Wikipedia:
Tsakonian (also Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic; Tsakonian: τσακώνικα, α τσακώνικα γρούσσα; Greek: τσακώνικα) is a modern Hellenic language which is both highly divergent from other spoken varieties of Modern Greek and, from a philological standpoint, linguistically classified separately from them. It is spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. Tsakonian descends from Doric, which was an Ancient Greek language on the Western branch of the Hellenic languages, and it is its only living descendant.[2] Although Tsakonian is treated as a dialect of Modern Standard Greek,[3][4][5] some compendia treat it as a separate language,[6] since Modern Standard Greek descends from Ionic and Attic which are on the Eastern branch of the Hellenic languages, while Tsakonian (as a descendant of Doric) is the sole surviving member of the Western branch.
Tsakonian is critically endangered, with only a few hundred, mostly elderly, fluent speakers left.[6] Tsakonian and Modern Greek are not mutually intelligible.
Hmmm, not sure. There are some very distinct sounding dialects all around Greece but…as the years go by less and less speak them. Not sure I ever heard of this one, must be some very remote village up in the mountains 🙂