My current thinking on mask wearing: 1. Masks are not perfect but do help; note that medical staff, especially in the OR, have been wearing them for a long time for some reason. She can speak for herself but I think WiseOne posted a long time ago about the efficacy of masks in the OR and I believe ...

"I Have Been Through This Before" .... https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/i-have-been-through-this-before-bauer Kind of a long piece but a worthwhile read if you have lots of time on your hands like me. Author Ann Bauer compares her lifelong experience with an Autisti...

Just got back from Hawaii and although a lot of people weren't taking it too serious they were still doing some crazy stuff. Indoor mask mandates were strictly enforced everywhere. You were required to have a working cell phone so they could notify you if you had been in contact with anyone who had ...

The directly purchased bonds I'm holding in my IRA have served me well over time - still up about 20% overall at this point. I seem to recall at least one year when they were the winning asset. Also like seeing coupon payments twice a year. So I've grown kind of fond of them and don't intend to dese...

The CDC "added mood disorders to the list of conditions that put people at high risk for severe covid-19" recently ( link ). This comes on the heels of T-Cow sharing that a cheap anti-depressant lowers the chances of a case of the Wuhan requiring hospitalization. Scott Adams made the inte...

I can report one good thing about Windows 11.

Reverting back to Windows 10 was surprisingly easy.

So there may not be any real reason to upgrade for a little while until they start unlocking the cool stuff with future updates. Which works well for me, as I'll need to upgrade my processor first to be able to run it at all. I second that opinion after using the computer for 24 hours after the upd...

I ran the test on this computer and it told me that my CPU was not sufficient for Windows 11. Here are some recent PC Mag articles on Windows 11: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/microsoft-windows-11 https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/windows-11-is-ultra-secure-dont-mess-it-up https://www.pcmag.com/news/n...

I hate Windows. Let me count the ways.... Home networking ---- you gotta be kidding. Takes hours to figure out why two computers can't connect to each other and transfer files. You do everything they tell you and it still doesn't work so you keep digging and find out they forgot to tell you to do s...

I installed it last night when I got a notification from Microsoft saying it was available. My observations.... 1.) I've yet to see any new features that made it worth the aggravation of installing it. The Start menu has been redesigned a bit but other than that I can't see much difference. Maybe I'...

They use two-factor authentication. The phone number I used to open my account in the US, is not the number I use to communicate in XYZ country. Then the questions start. A Google phone number will transfer calls to another phone for you but I don't know if they will do it if for phone numbers that...

If you have a U.S. address, how do they know you are an expat?

If the definition of inflation is too much money chasing too few goods as (I think) Milton Friedman put it, then why is nobody talking about the "too much money" part? The government has been running the printing presses non-stop since the start of the pandemic but you don't seem to hear m...

I won't dispute there's likely money involved in the thinking. And I won't dispute that Trump pushing those two originally probably led to resistance to studying them more. But...given where we are today....I find it fascinating that people will shun a (can we agree and say -- proven?) vaccine in f...

If Joe Biden had done his job then we wouldn't be seeing this inflation. Actually, I don't believe that for a minute but I remember in one of the debates he said that If Trump had done his job your friends and relatives wouldn't have died of Covid. So it seems fair for people to believe that based ...

I read your "demonized" as meaning the study showed a negative result to taking aspirin. It did not. It said it might be positive, but more studies were needed. You are free to take aspirin if you think it will help, and if coagulation/clots are an issue with Covid, it should. But I don't...

https://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/Fulltext/2021/04000/Aspirin_Use_Is_Associated_With_Decreased.2.aspx?context=FeaturedArticles&collectionId=4 Aspirin Use Is Associated With Decreased Mechanical Ventilation, Intensive Care Unit Admission, and In-Hospital Mortality in Hospitalized Pat...

I've been retired for 5 years and I'm now 72. I use the GB but I'm sorry I can't answer your question about the SWR. My wife still works and I get almost $48k in SS so the only withdrawals I've had to make were my two RMD's so far. I just take out the minimum of which nearly all of it goes to pay th...

https://journals.lww.com/anesthesia-analgesia/Fulltext/2021/04000/Aspirin_Use_Is_Associated_With_Decreased.2.aspx?context=FeaturedArticles&collectionId=4 Aspirin Use Is Associated With Decreased Mechanical Ventilation, Intensive Care Unit Admission, and In-Hospital Mortality in Hospitalized Pat...

Interesting legal discussion on your rights in Australia. How does this contrast with the USA? https://www.reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au/tony-nikolic/ PS: Reinforces HB's advice to keep some assets abroad..... What good is having assets abroad if you can't leave the country? It’s a lot harder f...

If Joe Biden had done his job then we wouldn't be seeing this inflation. Actually, I don't believe that for a minute but I remember in one of the debates he said that If Trump had done his job your friends and relatives wouldn't have died of Covid. So it seems fair for people to believe that based o...

On a related note, I just heard heard the SS COLA will be 5.9%. Would have preferred 7.12% but it amounts to about $217 /month to me. As a retiree with fixed income and a fixed budget, inflation doesn't really hit that hard unless it gets to the "hyper" phase. My parents retired in the lat...

IIRC, the total stock + smallcap value combo is more of an equal weighting across the spectrum of stocks. I aim for 20% total stock and 20% small cap Basically vti and vb ETFs Basically golden butterfly but I decided I would rather just have all the small stocks than just value. What do you use for...

Interesting legal discussion on your rights in Australia. How does this contrast with the USA? https://www.reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au/tony-nikolic/ PS: Reinforces HB's advice to keep some assets abroad..... What good is having assets abroad if you can't leave the country? Or enter the countr...

Gee, I'm going to have to open a TD account and start moving the money I have in STIP there. Already did that for my wife but they tell me there is already an account with my SS (I had one a long time but it's closed). Hard to believe someone else would use your SS to open up a TD account but I gues...