Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Any knife sharpening experts plan to attend? I have a waterstone I bought a few years ago that I'm still not that good at using. I can get knives sharper but not sharpest. Anyone else would be welcome to bring their own knives to sharpen if we had some adult supervision.

If I am able to attend, I'll bring my knife stuff. I have a good book on knife sharpening, and a tool that screws onto the blade. It helps to maintain a consistent angle while running the edge along the stone. I've found high carbon blades are easier to sharpen than stainless steel blades.

Ken wrote: I've found high carbon blades are easier to sharpen than stainless steel blades.

That's for sure. I love stainless steel for many things, but I have a hard time sharpening it.

Okay, time to get a headcount!

Meet-up starts at 2pm.

PM me for location/directions if you don't know it.

Hey folks, new to the forum. Would love to attend if newcomers are welcome.

I've only ever met one other person pursuing Early Retirement and would love to meet more. I would be coming from Logan square with one other friend from Rogers Park.

@erockrazor - Yes, newcomers are welcome.

Headcount so far:

Confirmed and PM'd for location already: 5+3
Maybes and knows location: 1+1
Expressed interest above but haven't PM'ed yet: 2+1?

There'll be the following:

* Random pot luck. Bring some snack/drinkable if you want but no obligations or social pressure. A way to show off your frugal/DIY skills so don't spend more than $5. $5 can feed a family for a day

* Book exchange. There's a long-standing tradition of bringing surplus books and giving them away in an orderly fashion. This is predicated on the idea that we tend to enjoy reading the same things. Think of it as paperbackswap.com without credits and the need for shipping.

* Stuff give-away. Never done this before and I don't know how successful/popular this will be but I'll be offering up various surplus (wrenches, masking tape, sirius satellite radio, saw blades, plastic lures, compost worms, indoor antenna, ... whatever I can think of over the next few days). The idea is that it might save someone the effort/cost of having to shop for it. (We do this with one of our neighbours). So bring a shoebox with your unpriced possessions if you have something to unload in your quest to unclutter and minimize. Think of this as freecycle without the flakes.

Also, dress warmly. Usually the thermostat is set to 58F but I'll raise it until the last person stops shivering

If anyone has a working AM/FM radio they don't want, I'd be glad to take it off your hands. I'll try to inventory if I have anything worthwhile to exchange when I get home tonight. Anyone want poker books?

Anyone taking public transportation from downtown Chicago? I'm planning on taking the Pink Line from the Loop and walk from there, would be great to go together if you have a similar plan.

I'm lazy and I live near the Green Line, so I'm going to take that plus the Austin bus. If you want to coordinate PM for contact info.

See everyone there!

This was the biggest ERE meetup in a long time. This one (consequently) took more of the form of a house party (the good kind) with mingling and forming small groups. Losing the integrity of the usual circle (too much mitosis/meiosis) and not taking turns talking, it's hard to give a summary of what was covered, but I think people got to talk/meet more people than usual. I enjoyed myself and I hope everybody else did too. We'll do another one later this year. Maybe an outside BBQ(*) or something once the weather improves.

(*) So bringing fire instead of knives next time

Also, anyone who attended this meetup (or previous ones); feel free to friend me on facebook if you're into that stuff.

With very few exceptions, I only add people I've met IRL on fb. Ditto worked-with on linkedin.

Still haven't figured out the ideal social media strategy, but this is currently how it is ...

My mother always said I was exceptional. I guess she was correct.

Someday I will make it to one of these. It sounds like you guys had a great time. I am envisioning jacob with the Kid n Play hairdo from "House Party". There will be strange dreams tonight.

Hey! This is Eric. Had a great time meeting everybody at the meetup. So much so that I'm already looking forward to the next one.

It was a relief when I said the words "IRA Conversion Ladder" and D_ and S_ knew exactly what I was talking about. Meeting people who are living a Financially Independent life was exciting too. Until now, it felt like I've spent years pursuing something but never met anybody who accomplished it. It's nice to meet some people that are trailblazers for this lifestyle approach. If any of you are ever in Logan Square and wanna hang, hit me up!

I would really like to make the next one for this reason. Every year it gets harder and harder to have conversations with people. My plans evoke blank stares as people either don't understand how I do what I do (weirdo) or how I can do what I do (lucky).

I had a really great time meeting everyone. Thank you again Jacob for inviting people into your home. Looking forward to the next one.

Yes, it was nice meeting everyone. Hopefully, we can do it again soon. Sorry I had to leave early but the Danish guy had to study.

Hmmm... It looks like I'm going to be passing through Chicago on June 22ish and then again on the 26th (going to a festival in the area). I know people wanted to plan a meetup in the Summer, any chance people might want to make Sunday June 26th happen?

Next meetup: Sometime in June. Now taking requests from those from out of state/country. First come first serve.

Plans: There'll be BBQ and the possibility of overnighting in a tent in the backyard or maybe we go to a bona fide camp site for 1-2 days(*)?

Otherwise, same deal as last time(s), i.e. voluntary potluck, freecycling stuff, etc.

Read through the rest of the thread for details and to see how it usually goes.

(*) How many are 1) capable of making it to an IL/IN campsite? 2) own a tent + sleeping bags? 3) interested in doing so for a multi-day event?