linkling end of the earth edition
I spent about 6 weeks once living in Vladivostok, Russia. Look it up on a map. It’s in the middle of nowhere. Literally. In between starving (dinner was jerked calamari and lots of beer – my primary source of calories) and working 15 hour days (to get out as soon as possible) it was a heck of an experience. And I mean that in a good way – spending that much time in Siberia has provided me with a lifetime of anecdotes, and some very fond memories of some bizarre experiences. You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten toasted pine cone seeds with a drunken ex-Soviet apparatchik in a former gulag town. I was OK until she started singing the Internationale and crying over vodka.
The picture here is the main square in Vladivostok. The links below are a collection of good stuff I read during the week. I wonder about the link posts, because if you read this blog – and particularly if you’re floating around in the personal finance blogosphere – you’ve probably already come across some of these. I will say that I don’t idly highlight any of these posts. Most are really interesting subjects to me or writing I’d like to emulate or, sometimes, both. Click through for a second and read.
Another thought for a slow Saturday: name one city you’d like to go to but don’t think you ever will. Me? Ulaɣan Baɣatur.
Moolanomy has two great related posts: his review of the Quiet Millionaire and asking whether he can save too much for his child’s education. I have pretty strong feelings about this subject. Pinyo’s take on how to save is a great idea – make sure you can guarantee a state school education for your child, but if they want a fancy private school they’re on their own.
The Giving Hands and My Two Dollars each have good posts on how to save money with very routine, small changes. I plan on taking their advice as soon as possible – maybe even this weekend if I get my act together.
A Penny Closer thinks that frugality is sometimes an excuse for laziness. I agree. Every time I tell myself I’m saving money by not wasting water on washing the dishes, it’s because I don’t feel like doing it. Blah.
I had a full post reacting to Lazy Man‘s post about jealousy. If this hasn’t happened to you, you are either not a jealous person by nature or not very competitive by nature. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know.
Penelope at the Brazen Careerist has some good tips on building your personal brand. It’s strange, because I’m completely aware of the need to do this, and I do it to some extent, but I’ve had trouble establishing myself as an expert in my field. I’m a fantastic generalist – I learn quickly, I present well – but I’m not a gearhead who gets into details on a single area and that’s what’s needed to distinguish yourself. Being the only guy in the organization who understands COBOL gives you a "brand." Food for thought, at least. I’m sure if you read my blog on a regular basis you can see the same lack of specific focus on a particular area.
Some thoughts on life-changing moments at Making Ripples are worth reading. I am not ready to accept change. It’s been a problem for years for me, and it’s been exacerbated by the birth of my son. I don’t want change, I want to put up a steel wall around his life and my family’s and carve our future out without deviation. Part of me knows this won’t happen, and he’ll go in directions I never intend him to go, but I avoid thinking about moving or changing careers or taking big risks sometimes because I am determined to prevent the bad – even at the expense of the good.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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Brip Blap, that’s a great story about Russia … reminds me of the Klingon empire and its culture
I don’t have some of these fine bloggers on my feed reader. Thanks for pointing them out.
Thanks for the link to Making Ripples–good article. Twice in my life I’ve literally walked away from one life and started a new life, and both times it’s been worth it. As the Rolling Stones told us so many years ago, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.” And that’s the trick, distinguishing what you want from what you need.
–Oh, I want to go to Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, but it will never happen. Still, dreams are fun.
Whenever I see round-ups like this it always strikes me that there are a lot of really good and interesting writers blogging about money etc without much fanfare. I can’t get into the big-traffic personal finance blogs as much any more; some of them seem very conscious of the media attention they’re getting, and the writing suffers, becomes more corporate. All the “20 Ways to this …” and “Come back for the end of this series!” is pretty inaccessible, loses a lot of personality.
There are many places I want to see before I’m done, the one I’m not sure I’ll get to is Bhutan. It’s not impossible, my husband’s native country isn’t a million miles away, but somehow I have the sense it’s never really going to happen. If I can figure out a way to get a job that gives me more than 15 days holidays a year …. suppose I’ll have to go back to Ireland for that.
I also want to go to Ulan Baator, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get there someday. I’ve got a semi-plan involving taking the Trans-Sib Express. The place I’d love to go to but don’t think I will ever, is probably Pyongyang. I only want to go there whilst its a closed Communist dictatorship, and they don’t let in tourists.
I know of an Irish guy who visited Pyongyang a couple of years ago, but he’s admittedly a bit mad. According to him, Americans & South Koreans have visa issues, but anyone else can get in. You can’t wander around by yourself though, you have to use the state-sanctioned tour groups. And I think you have to get the visa from the Beijing consulate, which is obviously a big expense unto itself.