The great thing about making decisions in life through the lens of decision trees and opportunity cost is that it allows you to focus on what you actually want. You tend to protect yourself against giving up what you really want for what you want right now. Everything in life has an opportunity cost. It doesn’t…
Shortly after high school and during college, I found myself having to travel often. A family member who had experienced almost every airline, large and small, traveling as part of a successful medical career, recommended a small regional carrier called Midwest Airlines. Not only did they offer fewer passengers per flight by having two leather…
To the fragrance aficionados writing me, yes, I realize I haven’t written a fragrance review or update in six months, since responding to the Mail Bag question asking to look inside my fragrance cabinet. Sorry. I’ve been busy with other things. I’ll try to be better. And thank you for sharing your recommendations and suggestions for new…
Several times each month, a family member, friend, colleague, or reader will ask me about dress shirts for men. Questions range from what to look for in a quality dress shirt to the names of some of the best shirtmakers in the world. For the sake of efficiency, I sat down this weekend and wrote a beginner’s guide to dress shirts for men, which can serve as a reference. This makes it easier for people to find, and save me time because I can point to it whenever a question arises, not having to repeat myself.
Something has been bothering me. I haven’t really gotten into it on the blog, but the case studies I’m doing on the furniture industry make me very uncomfortable. For the past couple of decades, there has been a drastic increase in the percentage of consumer furniture and goods manufactured using a material known as MDF.…
This blog is a way for me to pass along some of the stuff I learn on the journey and the past year has taught me a lot about furniture, furniture buying, and what constitutes quality furniture. Tying that into our usual discussion of economics and finance, I think it provides a lot of valuable…
I’ve been thinking a lot about free trade, labor unions, American manufacturing, and free markets for the past few weeks. You know that, on the whole, American manufacturing is still as strong as it was in 1960. We still produce roughly $20 out of every $100 of world goods. The difference? Technology and, to a…
Family and friends celebrated my 29th birthday today. Also, the stained glass Monopoly lamp arrived to match the ceramic Mr. Monopoly bank I bought in the middle of night when I couldn’t sleep due to working out too late in the evening and not being tired.
The ceramic Mr. Monopoly bank I bought the other day (er … middle of the night) arrived earlier than expected. I love it. I wish there were Monopoly art and collectibles to the same degree there is with Scrooge McDuck thanks to the work of Carl Barks.
Let me tell you something – no matter how rich you are, no matter how much stuff you can afford, no matter how successful you become – there is no better feeling than a completely random, awesome surprise that you aren’t expecting that comes from nowhere out of left field! It’s the grown-up equivalent of…
