Jacob's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Seabourne
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Post by Seabourne »

Jacob,
Welcome to Chicago! Glad to hear that things are working out so far - which neighborhood did you end up in? If you're looking for some potential activities, send me a message. Particularly if you're interested in sailing on some of the ships this summer as a volunteer or just to get out once or twice.
Seabourne


jacob
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Post by jacob »

1) I agree on the social component. I used to do something sportsrelated up to four times per week for my social fill but I gotta dial that back a bit since I have an overtraining injury [tendon]. As it is I haven't figured out anything sufficiently local. It would suck to have to subway it for 45 minutes each way to do something... I dunno yet.
2) I got the table glued together only to learn that the sunk holes I drilled for the bolts to fit the tabletop to the frame had a too small diameter for the socket [wrench] to get in. ARGH! Woodworking can be so relaxing! There's a lot of tacit intelligence involved. Hundreds of little "rules" that are learned from experience.
3) I think Chicago is fine for ERE but I think that should only come as a surprise to the "But I don't want to have to live in an RV to retire early"-crowd. One good thing about Chicago is that whereas it would require up to 3 hours of travel to bring 6 people together for a meetup in the bay area, there are at least that many within the city here. A big city certainly has the advantage of being able to cater to and support more people. For example, there are probably more software jobs here than in Dover, NH.
4) I think the most useful research comes out of at least initially defining the subject and providing some raw material, e.g. "how to adjust this particular carbon dating method for nuclear testing residuals" and then see what comes out. If you want to explore unknown territory you got to at least have a way of getting them and some idea that something might be there. This is where people with more experience are helpful to newbies.
5) The weather is kinda nice, la nina + global warming does its thing. It's not much colder than the bay area we left. We adjusted rather quickly... in fact I'd say even though the bay area tends to be warmer the day night differences are often almost 30F making the nights feel really cold. Here it's almost constant temperature.


Seabourne
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Post by Seabourne »

Jacob - you're being badly spoiled by this winter so far. Chicago can get bitter cold with a wind that cuts. I'm not complaining - I'm loving this mild winter so far, but don't assume that this is anything like normal. Just enjoy it while it lasts :-)


dragoncar
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Post by dragoncar »

It's hard to characterize Bay area weather -- I think the day/night difference is mostly true in the east/south bay. On the other hand, SF gets more buffering effects from the ocean.
As for Chicago, all I have to say is http://usfencounter.stfrancis.edu/wp-co ... drive1.jpg


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C40
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Post by C40 »

Note that this winter it has been abnormally warm up in this area.


Scott 2
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Post by Scott 2 »

I joined the forum to thank you for the update Jacob. Glad to hear the job is going well. It would be interesting to see how your lifestyle evolves as your wealth grows.
Aldi is a great place in Chicago to get food, especially if you shop early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I assume you are shopping there, but if not, give it a try.
If your work is in the loop, another option for housing is along one of the metra lines. I managed just fine without a car in the Chicago suburbs for several years. As long as you get a place walking distance to the metra, the travel time is about the same as going across the city. The amount of crime and number of beggars goes down a ton once you get out of reach of the L.
I would not want to live in the city with a car. Outside of insurance and gas, parking can be a real pain and get quite expensive. Cabs all the way, IMO.
75% savings rate on top of being almost FI as a couple? Tough problem to have.
Maybe you are in a position to buy time back? Higher rent for a shorter commute is an option. At the indlugent end of the specturm, you could hire a personal assistant one day a week, have them get your groceries, clean your place, cook food for the week, run laundry, etc... It is something I have considered, but since I am not yet FI, have choosen not to do. I am confident that extra time re-invested in work would more than pay for itself, but I don't wanna work that hard. I also kinda like buying and making my food.
Investing some of the money in socializing with your coworkers, maybe even going out to lunch or to bars after work, could yield significant returns. It might be fun too.


jacob
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Post by jacob »

Here's a fun observation. My "nightmares" (which I'd rank as annoying rather than terrifying) usually consist of either
1) Being chased by something (random) and being unable to hit it and make it stop following me---I never get caught either.

2) School examinations where I'm significantly dumber than I usually am in reality.
That's pretty much it.
You don't really need a BA in psychology or be a street corner psychic doing $5 hand readings to interpret that one.
So here's the interesting thing ... after I quit my career in physics, these dreams stopped within a few days and didn't reoccur for the almost three years I was retired. Now they're back.
In other news: I cut my equity exposure down to 30% in my tax-deferred accounts. It's getting a little rich for me. Also, thanks to the recent run-up I set a new net worth record.
Also, this week I had to relearn the following important life lesson: Never discuss index funds with boggleheads. [Closely related life lesson: Never discuss the benefits of the deadlift with water aerobics instructors.]


Dragline
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Post by Dragline »

That last paragraph made me laugh pretty hard.
Try Valerian root for the nightmares. Or some physically exhausting activity. It works for my wife. Whiskey works better for me. ;-)


beav80
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Post by beav80 »

The #1(physical weakness) nightmare, #2(stupidity), and sexual dysfunction or perversion would be pretty common fears that most people would dream about.
The deadlift thing is funny, speaking as a trainer. "But I feel it in my back."


Landor n Stella
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Post by Landor n Stella »

@ Jacob

Re: activities for when your brain is fried-

1. puzzles- it can be relaxing to just look for the pieces

2. Crochet/knitting- actually, can be manly and you can make your own scarves and hats! Ravelry.com for ideas and instructions. I love this for the repetitive motions

3. card games- Magic the Gathering is one, Ascension is another idea. Relies on having a playgroup, which could add some social in if you can find a card store nearby


Maus
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Post by Maus »

@Jacob

Nightmare #2 must be a universal for anyone with a graduate degree and a stressful job. My version is an unshakeable awareness that I have an exam or a paper due in one hour and I am completely unprepared and paralyzed by the consequence of failure.
I have initiated a similar shift -- though not as aggressively -- in my non-taxable accounts. All new inflows are in a cash-equivalent money market fund that returns a laughable, but stable, 0.01% per year; and I've begun converting the majority of the equities into a Permanent Portfolio. While the PP mantra is that you cannot time the markets, it does seem like time to batten down the hatches based on valuations and the P/E 10.


LiquidSapphire
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Post by LiquidSapphire »

I have a recurring dream similar to your dream #2 - In my dream I realize that I registered for some class weeks ago and completely forgot about it and just plain stopped going to the class because I forgot I had it on my schedule... and I have a final or midterm Today and I am not at all prepared and I am freaked out about how I am going to catch up and pass. I believe it's linked to general stress and anxiety.


S
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Post by S »

I also have a variation on #2. My high school had a complicated class time rotation schedule. I still have nightmares that I'm back in high school on that schedule and can't figure out what class I'm supposed to be in. I used to frequently have dreams about my teeth falling out and filling up my mouth so I couldn't talk which creeped me out, but those are mostly gone now.


Spartan_Warrior
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Post by Spartan_Warrior »

I've had the chase nightmare before, never the examination one. Actually, I rarely remember my dreams at all. So when I do, even if it's a "scary" one, I usually think of it as something pleasant and interesting.
@Landor and Stella:

Hah, if you're going all out nerd, I would say skip Magic the Gathering and go for tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons. D&D requires no further investment than a set of dice (rulebooks can be found at a library)--no recurring costs for buying new cards and the like, which I assume is required in card games like Magic.
</nerd>


Freedom_2018
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Post by Freedom_2018 »

I've found that dreams and diet are somewhat correlated:
- Going to bed after drinking lots of fluids...generally uncomfortable dreams..maybe the body's way of waking one up so that they can empty their bladder.
- When I used to eat pizza a lot (years ago) ..I thought it was the meat and cheese ("bad foods" per the soon to be vegetarian phase I was in) giving me uncomfortable dreams. Years later I realized it was the wheat!


jacob
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Post by jacob »

I find it interesting what kind of life-goals different people have [if any]. Somewhere on the net (and presumably in reality) there's a great of people whose life goal is to sleep with as many women as possible. It seems like a purely quantitative goal. Much like trying to visit as many different countries as possible.
I guess my life goal(*) will be to generate the most interesting "resume" as possible... actually it's more to do as many interesting things as possible under my own idiosyncratic definition of what constitutes as interesting. I think "resume" defines the value-measure rather well. Playing cowboy as part of a lifestyle vacation might be interesting, but it's not resume-worthy unless you actually ran the tour. "Participated in ..." doesn't cut the cake.
Just some random thoughts.
Those who just want to travel are lucky. Everybody understands them.
(*) Actually, my life goal is to get my own wiki-page. This is, of course, sheer vanity.
In other news, thanks to the markets moving up 6 out of the last 7 weeks, my net worth just passed a nice "round fraction". I like to view my wealth in terms of more than just one variable though. I think the potential for increase is at least as important as how much I currently have. Right now we're in a position that's high but which has a lot of downside. Conversely, when I retired from physics in 2009, the markets we're in a position of being low but with a large upside. Hence, while I'm worth more than twice as much compared to when I retired (I deliberately positioned myself for a market recovery just as I deliberately picked stocks in sectors that were protected from the real estate bubble), I don't consider myself twice as wealthy. Wealth is how money shares you have. Money is just what they sell for.
(With job growth news combined with the sovereign debt news becoming old news we have the potential for a nice rally based on optimism. I think the market can go higher but there's no base for the optimism. Hence, I'm increasing cash. The next boom will be in commodities, but all equities are quite expensive now. Ideally the market index would go down due to a sovereign debt default (where having unleveraged liquidity is really great!!) and I would then buy shares in energy companies.)
On other news, I have developed an obsession with minimalism. Moving out of the RV actually meant that we lost an ungodly amount of storage space. Hence, we're still surrounded by cardboard crates until I can build: several bookcases, a sewing desk, and a workbench. When dealing with stuff, you an do either two things: Organize it or get rid of it. My preferred method is getting rid of it because then I don't have to think about organizing.
Fun fact: So after we bought a used couch+ottoman for $200 (delivery included), we (and they) discover that it's actually from Crate&Barrel(**) (new price $2100). While this is good news in terms of later resale (this should make our furniture cost NEGATIVE. Fun fact: the average American "family unit" spends $1800 on furniture EACH YEAR. Crazy!), it's a cursed situation since new slip covers are needed. The originals are $700!!! This leaves either a generic $30 spandex solution from Tarshay (not entirely classy---I'd do it to a cheap couch, because that would be fitting, but not on this one) or some DIY attempts. We'll attempt the latter first.
(**) It was basically a craigslist operation run out of Public Storage, so we went to look at what they had: "What about that one?" (seeing one that looked nice).. $160 ... and that's how we got lucky.
In terms of work I just calculated that I've read about 1000 pages worth of textbook material over the past month. I'm just about brain dead. This presents a slight problem on weekends when DW wants to do stuff and I'd rather sit and stare at the walls---much like after a one hour 85F hockey game with no subs.


Chad
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Post by Chad »

"Ideally the market index would go down due to a sovereign debt default (where having unleveraged liquidity is really great!!) and I would then buy shares in energy companies.)"
Hope, appears to be driving this market. Surprisingly, I actually think it can drive it further, as you suggested. Just wish Greece would default and get this over with.
"my life goal is to get my own wiki-page"
Awesome goal. I might have to add that to mine.


dragoncar
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Post by dragoncar »

There's another option for the slipcovers: you can see how much the local seamstress would charge and you can supply the fabric. It might not be that much, and they probably have higher quality equipment.


jacob
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Post by jacob »

I've been thinking a bit about the "social utility" of trading. Apparently, it's popular to question that first-order zero-sum game of trading as much as people never question the social utility of state lotteries (a negative sum game), fashion (a total waste), vastly overpowered desktop computers, or why actors, musicians, and athletes are paid tens of millions of dollars when it's not kosher when people in the financial or business world are. Yeah, sure football on ESPN is entertaining to many people, but so is Cramer on CNBC to other people.
However, inconsistent opinions aside ... what's the utility of trading? Very simple, it decreases the effort people have to spend looking for things they want to buy. Without traders, people would have to spend time searching for a seller. Given the existence of traders, one can just go to them.
Creating a market creates the social service of uniform pricing. Without uniform pricing, people would need to spend time searching for the best price for everything. As you all know, the retail market is not very efficient which means that spending effort often means you can get something cheaper. If your effort is worth less than your savings, you win, otherwise you lose.
In the stock market, trading means you don't have to spend time looking at different exchanges or for that matter hang around for hours or days looking for a cheaper offering. The market essentially creates a fair price at all time.
This creates two complaints:
1) Some people's time are worth far less than any cost. They'll spend hours or days to save $0.01. For this group, trading is evil because it essentially constitutes competition. They may use various loaded terms for traders (e.g. parasitic), but essentially they just don't like the competition. [Of course what this group should do is to become traders themselves.]
2) Some people are simply better traders than others. The slower/worse connected traders will complain about losing business to the faster and better connected traders. [This group just need to improve their craft. Protectionism doesn't help anyone in the long run.] For example, computer traders get a lot of flack from pit traders because the former are essentially doing a more efficient job.
So the social function of high frequency trading in particular is essentially to 1) create a more fair price for everyone---effectively, you get a narrower spread, that is, you pay less when buying or get more when selling 2) make it so that you don't need to sit on a limit order, you can just hit market and be done with it ... obviously we're not quite at that point yet, but that's the goal.
Of course as with everything there are white hats trying to improve the system and black hats trying to abuse the system(*). I aim to be a white hat.
(*) The sports equivalent would be the use of doping vs the non-use.


dragoncar
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Post by dragoncar »

Lotteries are only zero-sum if you don't include the state as a "player," which in my opinion they are. They take the risk that the jackpot will be hit over and over again.
Fashion is only a total waste if people get zero happiness out of pretty things, or if you place zero utility on happiness.
I don't know who you talk to, but I often hear complaints about how actors, musicians, and athletes are disgustingly overpaid.
Of course, I agree that traders have social utility.


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