Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Making You Mad? Just might be the right choice...

When I was a teenager...I couldn't fathom even the most simplistic financial books. It wasn't that I couldn't have understood them with time and focus...it was just that I really couldn't care less about that subject matter. I had  many other fish to fry....and finance, economics or the stock market wasn't on the list. The calmness and patience required to read through a heavy economics hard cover sounded like death by a thousand pages.

Then 2o years or so passed by....marriage, children,  jobs, spirituality and philosophizing. I began to forage my way through simple books about the economy, personal finance and the stock market. I read authors who made me laugh. I also read authors who made me steaming mad. Yes, foot stompin....tear your hair out...pacing the floor kinda mad. It was the authors who made me mad who kept me learning....kept me problem solving until I made sure I understood the point that was being made. I may not have agreed with that writer, but at least I could say that I understand his/her line of thought.
Being understood....is a hugely vital human need. Writers need us to understand what they are trying to say....even if we don't agree with them.

I began to wonder about economic visionaries. I began to see so much untapped potential amongst my beloved Canadian populace. Folks who were highly intelligent, were not requiring anything significant of the blessed brains they had been given. Some folks I know well, with keen quick intellects allowed their minds to....begin to atrophy. When you don't have a challenge to rise up to meet, you begin to step back....to fall back to the lowest common denominator.....which for some....means beer, pizza and worrying about who is wearing what or driving what.
 Boring boring boring.

When you can do more with your life....why not do it? Why not try?

And so, because I at least had the confidence to acknowledge that God had given me a mind that deserved further development, I began to select books that pissed me off. I began to select books written on levels and layers way beyond my ken. I stopped beating myself up for dropping out of university. I began to watch online classes from M.I.T via Online courseware, just to see if my mind could swim in their leagues. I may have been doing the doggy paddle in those oceans of higher learning, but at least I was in the same body of water. I was a student again...with no tuition fees and no visits to a fussy registrars office. I became a happy clam again.

I write often about reading and it's importance in my life and in my self led educational journey. I like to post lists of my fave authors. I like to toot the horns of bloggers that I have come to trust over the years.

But rarely do I talk about how I pick the those authors. Sometimes I choose authors that make me so very frustrated....that seem to talk above and beyond me in such a tantalizing way that I simply must rise to the occasion and at least try for a good few weeks to figure  out  what all their fussing is about.  As Seth Godin would say....I try to get the joke.

Then, after a season of bad hair days , coffee spilled on overdue library books  and one too many coffee cups gathered around my computer...I rest. I am content. I actually got the joke. I rock.

How you craft your self led learning journey is one thousand percent up to you. It is not for me to tell any body else what they should be learning. That would defeat the point of calling it
SELF led learning.

SELF led learning....means to it's very essence, that you alone must choose. You will hunt and gather those epic books. You will scrape the dusty corners of the net for some forgotten genius who frustrates and inspires you, that you just can't get out of your mind. You will find that novel idea that was inspired by God to propel you forward....to your next step....to your destiny.

Don't give up on the journey because you don't hear anyone telling you what your next step should be...... The silence is indeed golden....  It is your empty room. Your blank page.
No need to be hasty. But do push forward. Push ahead.

Peace,
Carla.



The Fuss About the Consumer Price Index

I keep bumping into commentary about the inaccuracy of the way the Consumer Price Index ( CPI)
is calculated in our modern times. Apparently during President Obama's reign, it was not permitted to include the cost of food or the cost of gasoline in the calculations of the CPI....hence making the economy appear more "consumer friendly" than it actually was.
(see pg 163 of Second Chance, the book written by Robert Kiyosaki)

What is your take on this? Do you feel like the Consumer Price Index is a reliable metric by which to measure how our economy is doing and how it affects the "average" citizen?
Do you think it is measured differently in your country as compared to Canada or the USA?

If some of the commentaries are true, then the investments that use the CPI to help build hedges against inflation, are not going to do the trick for us that we think or hope they will.
I forget where I read this thought....but I read somewhere that the CPI formerly used "steak" purchases as a regular measure of the economy's ability to feed it's citizens, whereas now, they don't use "steak" as a measure, but rather use "ground beef".

But what is the actual truth. Is the literal cost of food that we pay today in our local grocery stores factored into our Canadian version of the CPI? Is the literal cost of food that we pay today in our local grocery stores factored into the American version of the CPI?

Some feel that equities are a better hedge against inflation than other investment vehicles. Others feel that they trust those "custom made" inflation protection investment products ( such as T.I.P.S) are the real deal and can be trusted to protect oneself from future inflation. What do you feel? What do you think? Which books or articles do you find most accurate in their discussion on the CPI?
I am all ears.

Peacefully thoughtful,
Carla.


Saturday, January 12, 2019

Gluten Free At Chick-Fil-A

Big FAT Disclaimer....
This post is not to be taken as medical advice. All medical advice should be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner.  The links listed are current as of Jan 12 2019.
Food companies can change the ingredients of their product offerings whenever they choose.
This post is intended for conversational purposes only. Those with food allergies should consult their doctors for medical advice. This post is not intended as dietary advice or recommendations.
Those with food allergies need to do their own up to date inquiries with due diligence and caution.


Hi Folks! How has the new year started for you?

Well that was a pretty big disclaimer for such a little post. But then again, I do find it alarming that sometimes folks just blindly trust whatever they see written on a random internet article.
Anyway, for today I just wanted to post some links that are current as of Jan 12 2019 regarding the allergens present in Chick-Fil-A menu items. I kinda wish we had these kind of restaurants up here in Ontario....but hey...with their rapid growth across the USA perhaps we may be next on their list for expanding market share into the north!

This is their main website home page :
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/

Their pdf link of food ingredients, current as of Jan 12 2019
is:

https://d1fd34dzzl09j.cloudfront.net/Allergen%20PDFs/AllergenInfo_1118_v7_1.pdf


From a quick gander at their list, I noticed that their hash browns, grilled nuggets and
Chick-Fil-A Waffle Potatoe Fries do not contain wheat as a listed ingredient. Also, it appears that their Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry Milk shakes also do not contain wheat as a listed ingredient.

However, note that they have many other menu items which do contain lots of wheat and gluten and so therefore the potential for cross contamination does exist.

If you wish to contact the company.... their contact information is listed on their website at this link:

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/Contact-Support

Well, that's all for now. May God bless you with  a healthy 2019 as you enjoy His blessings and provision.

Peacefully productive,
Carla.




Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Warren Buffett - HBO Documentary HD #Advexon



There's something magical about a great biography....whether you read it in book form....

or watch it on the telly.

This moment which you can enjoy starts at precisely the timestamp 3:47 in this youtube video which captures an HBO documentary about Warren Buffet.



Why did I stop the vid at precisely that moment? Because whole books could be written about just that one moment in time. Mr. Buffet's success is based upon focus....his ability to focus, recall financial data at will and have financial discipline.

He knew off by heart, from memory, what the cost is to the penny for his

three lowest cost favorite McDonald breakfast items. He plans before he drives to work,, as to which

breakfast item he will purchase from McDonald's . He asks his wife, for one of three amounts precisely in cash: namely $2.61 for two sausages, or $2.95 for a sausage mcmuffin with egg and cheese, or $3.17 for a bacon and egg and cheese biscuit. I would assume that his wife is accustomed to counting out precise cash amounts to accommodate his spending routines. He likes routines, and seems to thrive on the repetition of low cost behaviors.



What can we observe remotely from that simple 5 minute routine?

1/ Mr. Buffett shops for the best prices for items he knows he will buy on a daily basis.

 ( if you want to read about the late Hetty Green's thrifty meal habits...you will see similarities)

2/ He didn't buy a drink with his food.

3. He doesn't tempt himself by keeping extra cash on hand. He asks his wife to hand him precisely what he needs to pay for the breakfast in cash in full, with no extra cash for extra spending.

4. It appears that he did not tip the drive through cashier.

5. Mr. Buffett, with all his wealth, is not too proud to eat fast food.

6. Mr. Buffett, with all his wealth, is not too proud to fetch his own food.

7. Mr. Buffett, is not too shy to purchase low cost items locally. He feels no need to impress others with his wealth by overspending on necessities like food.

8. He is kind to the McDonald's workers. He does not appear to think of himself as above other people.

9. Even in humor, Mr.Buffet connects the products he buys with "how the market is doing"...and knew what the stock market was doing even before breakfast.

10. Mr. Buffett described how...on days when he chooses a lower cost McDonald's item, such as two sausages, he says that he puts the two sausages together. That illustrates that he doesn't consider himself above adjusting something in order to utilize lower cost items. He'll go the extra mile to spend less.



I wonder, do you or I see similarities in his breakfast habits? Are we similarly frugal and repetitious and efficient and kind all at once? Do we see value in routines that allow us the mental brain room to focus on other more important matters?



Many great men and women have seen the need to simplify and build simple routines in order to manage their "cognitive load" ( borrowed that word from Seth Godin). Dr. Mike Murdock also writes extensively about using routines, such as always going to the same Barber, in order save mental and emotional "energy" to address the more important decisions of life. Steve Jobs, always wore similar clothing in order to preserve his mental and emotional juice for his more important creative and business projects.



Do you get any ideas or inspiration from Mr. Buffett's breakfast routine? Can you think of any ways in which you can lower the cost of one of your daily routines, and keep it in a simple circular loop of habit? Do you feel that this routine could help you to spend less money or curtail time wasted making decisions about trivial matters?



Do tell. Looking forward to your responses to this vid.

Peacefully productive,

Carla