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Showing posts from July, 2015

Investing with Robinhood

I have long been a fan of services that offer low-cost investing products, such as DRIPS (Dividend Reinvestment Plans). Some companies even offer their employees a plan to purchase company stock without fees. For a time, there was even Sharebuilder (now Capital One Investing ), which allowed for purchasing stock for fixed fees per month. But now, Robinhood has come onto the stage. As great as the options I mentioned are, they have limitations. DRIPs, for example, typically limit you to one stock. You then have to shop around to other companies and set up other accounts there. It's not a giant hassle; but, it's a hassle. I liked Sharebuilder too; but, there was still some cost involved. I found myself having to accumulate my deposits to buy stocks in batches in order to reduce my cost. This is all outside of retirement plans such as 401ks, SEPs, and IRAs. Those typically allow you to purchase fractional shares, add regular amounts of money, and automatically dollar cost

A Time For Everything

This morning I sold a twin bed. I spoke with the buyer last night after he saw the ad on Craigslist. We agreed to meet at 7:30 am.  The buyer was curious this morning because I mentioned that I get up early. He asked if I was in the military. I told him that I was not.  I get up early just so I can go walking, I told him. I have learned that waiting for when I have time to start doing important things results in not doing anything. The time never comes. You have to make time to do those things that are important. 

From Poor Sleeper to Good Sleeper

Tonight, while walking in the park, I was listening to the Freakonomics podcast. The latest episode is Part 1 of The Economics of Sleep . It is a very fascinating episode, although I typically find their topics very compelling. It brings to mind my evolved relationship to sleep. Back (way back) in my University days, I used to think of sleep as something necessary that had to be gotten out of the way. I would squeeze it in wherever I could fit it. In some instances, I would sleep at least four hours and then schedule naps during the day. I guess this was some sort of polyphasic sleep, which changed over time. One year, my roommate was amazed that he ever saw me. I would be up and out of the dorm before he woke up. I'd go to bed long after he'd gone to sleep. Of course, he never saw me slip in a nap here and there while he was in class during the daytime. In short, I had little regard for sleep other than getting in minimum quantities and little recharge sessions here and

Quest for a Hot Dog

Hot Dogs by rob_rob2001 Tonight, I came home from work a little bit later than usual. It was important to get home before sunset as I wanted to clean out an air conditioner window unit. There is plenty of humidity where we live, so they tend to grow mildew. It is a bit of a chore to remove the unit, open it up, spray it with Lysol mildew remover, and then put everything back. One thing that makes doing outdoor work less of a chore is that my youngest daughter plays outside when one of us is outside. She will not play outside alone. So, once "we" finished outside, we came in and washed up. My daughter is a skinny little thing. So, when she decides to eat, we encourage it. Tonight, she wanted a hot dog. Ruffling through the refrigerator, we found some weenies. I put a pot of water to boil to cook the franks. The coloring on the weenies did not look right. On further inspection, they looked spotted, as if mold might be starting. I told Io that the weenies were bad; and