✉️ 👋 THIS is Episode #7 of Tommy George's Email Experiment! THIS!
Howdy, friend! I hope you're doing so well! ("swell"!?)
I read once that email engagement rates go up if you use the word "this" in the subject line. So I used it twice in all caps. 😆
There's so much more I wanted to say this week, but I'm forcing myself to keep this one short and get back on schedule...
Baby E!
Our tiny little girl is 18 weeks old! 😬 Some time in the last 72 hours, she's started occasionally grabbing her toes. 👶
Laura and I have often made ourselves available to other parents to have short get-aways, or take kids out to lunch, etc, for nothing but to be kind to folks. It's very interesting being on the receiving end of that kind of thing, and we're continually grateful for the amazing people in our community who care so much about us.
Fun budgeting idea? 🤑
Hey! You made it to February. If you started something new, or you're still trying to keep up with your year, don't stop! If you need help, get help! There's no shame in trying to improve yourself!
I saw a fun budgeting idea from one of YNAB's emails recently: Using a "Wish Farm". I don't really remember seeing it presented this way, but it's a fun way to think about short term savings. Y'know, like that blanket-ladder, or the complete Friends box set.
There's a 10-ish-minute video explainer of creating a Wish Farm (whether or not you use YNAB; it's pretty agnostic). Also, doing some searching for that term will turn up quite a lot of posts and articles, if that sounds fun to you.
Podcasts
Are you at least passively interested in things like: wolves, F-117 fighter jets, revolving doors, asphalt, or hearing someone basically recite a love letter to a cheeseburger?
I highly recommend dipping into The Irrelevant Information Podcast. I never quite know the best way to link to podcasts, so here's links for Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, and the official Twitter account, in case you want to start at the source.
Some episodes off the top of my head, that I remember learning from:
- The Wolves of Oregon
- Laika the Space Dog
- Grand Big Mac
- 7-Eleven of Japan
- Stove Top Stuffing
Music Theory in 30 Minutes!
If you're a person who spends time on YouTube, I highly recommend subscribing to Andrew Huang. Basically, a genius, prolific music producer, with the most fun and kind personality.
He put out a video last year that dives into a LOT of music theory, covered in half-an-hour. I think the way he taught this is pretty great, and it's worth checking out if that kind of thing sounds interesting to you.
Tech, and your data, and your privacy ;) 🤓
A while back I shared Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy. (That's still on my "I wish everyone would read this and then talk to me" list. So if you haven't read it yet... you know what to do!)
In somewhat related news, and if you prefer audio, the Reset podcast released an episode with this description:
Private companies have long used your phone’s location data for advertising. Now we know the federal government is using it to enforce the border.
The episode is called "Share your location with ICE?" and you can listen on Apple, Art19, and anywhere else you can get podcasts.
Random
Apparently HQ Trivia had it's last episode, and the hosts and show basically melted down or something? Someone fill me in on that...
Recent Verse
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.