Trevor Ariza went to Houston for more money. Ron Artest came to L.A. for less money. Who made the better choice? Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Money
Not Much to Show for Myself
My wife gives the boy a plate of donettes as he comes down for breakfast. Then she asks me, “Do you have 10 dollars you can give him?” Checking my fund supply, I find that I have a five-dollar bill and two ones. “I have seven dollars,” I say, holding up the bills. “Fifty years of life and this is what I have to show for it. Seven dollars.” The boy jumps into the conversation at this point. “There’s only five donuts here,” he says. “These definitely come in a package of six.” “Okay, I modify my statement,” I say. “Fifty years of life has given me seven dollars and a donut. Not even a large donut. A donette.” Read more →
Thomas Jefferson on the Oil Spill
I do not believe that the federal government should have a central and powerful place in American life. I believe in freedom and self-reliance. Some people, like President Obama, disagree with me. He believes you should part company with your freedom and your money for the privilege of having the government take care of you — wipe your collective backsides, so to speak — from cradle to grave. In which case — why doesn’t he know how to plug an oil leak? — Tom Read more →
Who You Really Are
Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is in reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. — Margaret Young Read more →
Your Morale is Too High
Moving Away from Joy
Behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman suggests that we have two selves: an experiencing self and a remembering self. . . . Your experiencing self lives in the present and is happiest spending time around people you like. . . . The remembering self cares about story, and about appearances. . . . Your remembering self cares about money and mobility deeply. Why? No one wants to be remembered as the person who “didn’t do anything with their life.” Getting rich and moving around a lot adds dramatic, tangible plot-points to your story, which comforts your remembering self greatly. But your experiencing self can easily be less happy. What if you are unable to turn your money into people you enjoy spending time with? What if you move away from the people and places that bring you joy? — Dave Troy Read more →
Bowing for Cash
My son’s half-Asian — his mom is Thai — and he feels like he’s missing out on an important Asian tradition. “On Chinese New Year,” he says, “Chinese kids get wads of cash. Koreans have a holiday where kids go to relatives’ houses, bow to people and get wads of cash.” He mentions a Korean friend of his who raked in 180 bucks the last time this holiday rolled around. “Why isn’t there a Thai holiday where kids bow to people and get wads of cash?” he asks. “Isn’t that how pretty much every day goes for you?” I ask. “Without the bowing, I mean. Handing you wads of cash though — that part is in full effect.” Read more →
Twitter: 2010-02-10
"I thought the more money I had the happier I would become, but it was not the case." http://bit.ly/d8yDMt # Read more →
Fun for Rich and Poor
Fun for Poor People Eat sweet things. Run up credit card then kill everyone where you work. Love the wrong people. Fun for Rich People Follow foibles of the poor on the local news. Wave to the poor. Talk about the plight of the poor at parties. — @eddiepepitone Read more →
We Don’t Keep Our Money in Banks
Security fears dog online banking — Yahoo! News Now that’s what I call lazy reporting. If they’d bothered to interview an actual dog, they would have found out that we don’t keep our money in banks because banks are run by Wall Street fat cats and we don’t trust Wall Street fat cats. Actually, we don’t trust any kind of cats. There may be dogs online barking but there are no dogs online banking. — Lightning Read more →
Heiress Casey Johnson Dead at 30
Heiress Casey Johnson dead at 30 — Los Angeles Times I myself have an heir named Casey, the main differences being that he’s a boy and he’s still alive. This is definitely another blow to the idea that being fabulously well-to-do is a guarantee of any sort of happiness in life . . . Read more →
Twitter: 2009-12-21
Never Say Never: http://bit.ly/75vYNw # r @eddiepepitone: my grandmother was such a beautiful woman, so beautiful, unfortunately she was killed by people I owe money to. # Read more →
What If They Cost Money?
David Brooks declares “we spend too much on health care” (on NPR) then demands “innovation” and “new technologies.” What if they cost money? — @kausmickey (Mickey Kaus) Read more →
I Am a Programmer
They were like spectators. You had a feeling they had just wandered in there themselves and somebody had handed them a wrench. There was no identification with the job. No saying, “I am a mechanic.” At 5 P.M. or whenever their eight hours were in, you knew they would cut it off and not have another thought about their work. They were already already trying not to have any thoughts about their work on the job. — Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance We had a manager’s meeting today on the subject of employee recognition. The text we were given to read in preparation for the meeting was indistinguishable from a handbook on training your new puppy: Behavior which is reinforced is usually repeated. . . . You risk extinguishing the positive behavior by not recognizing it. . . . Provide compliments in a timely fashion,… Read more →
Why Tiger Woods Gets All the Girls
I get home from the gym and say to my wife, “I’m in such great physical condition, it’s a shame I’m not having an affair with 10 women like Tiger Woods.” “Women care about money,” she says. “You don’t have 10 billion dollars so forget it.” “Oh. Okay.” Read more →
The Way to Get Rich
The way to get rich in this world is mainly by making people feel large hope about a small exertion (i.e. “six-second abs,” lottery tickets, voting in an election, maturity models, and stuff like that). If you want to get rich, do not tie yourself to the truth. — James Bach Read more →
It’s Payday!
When the guy comes by my office with my pay envelope, I raise my hand and say, “No thanks. The work is its own reward.” “You’ve said that before,” he says. “Doesn’t it get funnier every time I say it?” “I haven’t decided yet.” Read more →
Just Trying to Learn
I’m not trying to have a career, I’m not trying to be rich, I’m just trying to learn. — Francis Ford Coppola Read more →
I Do the Work of Two People Anyway
I got this email at work today: Due to an erroneous payroll submission by ADP (our payroll service,) a duplicate deposit of your paycheck was entered today for those who have direct deposit. Expect these funds to be retracted tonight by ADP. Well the joke’s on them because I already spent it haha . . . Read more →