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The following is a bit off the cuff, but I wanted to collect some basic info in one place regarding planning for disability and death. Much of planning is state-dependent, and many of our forum members have vast experience with their own estate planning and with settling the estates of others...

Came across this today, mentioned by a musician friend. Seems there are lots of thefts of band trailers and this has helped more than a few recover their gear. Thought it would be interesting to those who park campers away from their homes or have to leave them unattended in remote areas...

Figured "Accessory Dwelling Unit" (their official name) was too obscure for a thread title. We are thinking of building a small (500 sqft) cottage on our property to use as a caretaker's cottage/rental/escape pod. I searched for some old threads on this, including one where Rodi's lovely...

Hey, are there any forum folks using Spot GPS devices and Spotwalla for tracking their travels? I'm trying to learn how to use the data in Google Earth to plot our distances covered on a recent trip and it is more than a little confusing. Has anyone ever messed with the gpx data or something...

This morning 10/09/12, Austrian Felix Baumgartner is attempting to break the record set for a near-Space jump, which was set by Col. Joe Kittenger in 1960. It is really an amazing attempt--he's been training for five years and will attempt to launch from 120,000 feet above the earth. The...

Interesting interview in Freakonomics with the authors of Abundance, a new book. This part was the most relevant to my thoughts on ER: This may seem a fairly future forward opinion, but in a 2011 special report for CNN, media specialist Douglas Rushkoff argued this transition is already...

I know quite a few of the forum folks work the credit card rewards system, but I've recently become interested in the whole idea of what they call travel hacking, which includes working credit cards for miles and points and whatnot to get award flights, free nights at hotels, etc. Any bragging...

So I had an interesting time deciding where to post this, but decided health would be a good spot. Saw this in the WSJ today and was most intrigued. What a wonderful idea to plan for just what kind of party you want to have when you pass away. Funerals Are Changing - WSJ.com From the...

I figure we've got to have some map geeks around these parts! I am accumulating the best paper maps I can find and/or print from the internet of the road system in Peru, in preparation for our trip there at the end of the year. I realize that computer and GPS applications will be folly in the...

So I came across this via Paul Polak's FB page (he wrote Out of Poverty) and thought it was really cool. We stayed in traditional Mongolian Gers (aka Yurts) when we visited there in '08 and I thought they were awesome. This guy's concept for one that he carried to Burning Man (Yakers, where...

Anyone have any experience with carpenter bees? We have exposed rafter tails (not pressure treated) on our hip roof, which is 40 feet off the ground (house is on 10 foot concrete piers). We've heard that paint will definitely keep them out, but some have also said that a glossy stain will...

I am looking forward to reading this new book called Spousonomics--basically how economists interpret love and marriage but I thought this was an awesome article for Valentine's Day in the WSJ. [ The Secret to a Happy Marriage: Do the Dishes, Put Out, Don’t Talk So Much. The Secret to...

Fuego mentioned my interest in this insanity in another thread so I thought it would be a cool time to show off what is possibly the most ridiculous idea for travel ever conceived: Take a motorcycle rickshaw (aka the sofa-bike) and drive it from Paraguay through Bolivia and Peru, with just your...

I'm working on some ideas for the Skinful Halloween Ball coming up and would love to hear any suggestions for cool costumes. One idea is an 80s theme for DH and I--I found this MCHammer-esque costume online for him and might be able to manage an Flashdance-type costume for myself. He's not...

Hi, my name is Sarah and I've been away for far too long from my early retirement peeps that I felt I needed to post a "Hi, I am"! ;D But I have been busy in the interim, wrapping up my classes next week to finish my bachelor's degree. Commencement is on July 10th. The best news of all is...

I found this article to be quite intriguing and recall how hard it is for most of us interested in FIRE to find like-minded folks as friends. The website mentioned in the article, called Kupple, was very interesting and I went through the whole list of SC couples just to see what was "out...

The author of the Millionaire Next Door has a blog now, and I've really enjoyed reading his commentary, especially regarding Atlanta's bevy of luxury car dealerships, but the latest blog entry, regarding his new book that will be released in early October, had this to say: In Stop Acting Rich...

I went to see this movie Sunday night. It is a documentary based on the work of Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser and one of my favorites, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. While I will always appreciate the depth offered in a book like Pollan's, the movie had a lot going for it...

Any of you late hour keepers want to show off your skills? I have one problem on my homework that I think I don't have right--the answer needs to be a simplified fraction and radicals, and can't be in decimal form. x squared plus 5/2 x = 5 The two answers I got for x are 1/4 (-5 - square...

This is always a favorite of mine, the traits that tie together folks that are motivated to FIRE. I noticed from the responses to the thread about reading as a child that so many of us read early, often and generally books well beyond our ages. While it is easy to reach the popular conclusion...

Today's WSJ has a piece from Shelly Banjo that includes a link to a site that offers free credit scores for those willing to sign up. The Best Online Tools for Personal Finance - WSJ.com The website is called creditkarma.com and I checked it out. Interesting and accurate for my score (at...

....sigh.... I have a friend whose Mom bought him a $2k membership to Team National and he's getting the heavy pitch on it. Anyone know of this one? They are a discount membership card--no products except the card itself. The money is from hustling your friends, of course. The membership...

The title of a new book by a journalist and his wife (and parents of two small kids) writing about their marathon of love, 101 consecutive days of Sex. Just Do It Fox news story When most people train for a marathon, sex toys, pornography and Brazilian waxes are not part of the...

I know that several of our august members have pursued graduate level degrees through online programs offered by bricks & mortar universities, but I don't know if any have done undergraduate work through any of them. Here's my situation: I went to college on and off in my 20s but never...

As promised, a nowhere near brief synopsis of our trip to Mongolia. First, here’s a link I thought you might enjoy to the audio from my NPR interview with Liane Hanson of Weekend Edition Sunday: An Adventure In Mongolia : NPR See the Summer story "An adventure in Mongolia". My boss says...