Don't Panic

Is 0 a number?

I've seen this debated around the interwebs lately and, since this is my blog, I'm gonna weigh-in.

A number is meant to measure the amount of something. The amount of distance long something is, the amount of items in a container, the amount of weight increments something is, etc.

0 serves to indicate that there is none of something, which is still a measurement. It indicates the absence of an amount of something. This is different than null, which is the absence of a measurement of something.

So 0 is a number because it indicates how much of something there is, in this case “none.”

Some ideas about managing money. Or, rather, some of the things I think work...

Disclaimer: none of these are original ideas. Well, original in the sense that I came up with them for myself, after having tried several options, but not original in the sense that I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with them.

Money Manager

I actually barely do any of the thinking with my money. I use a manager app to help me keep track of what I have and what I need to spend.

I start with a list of every bill I have to pay no matter the frequency: monthly utilities/rent, monthly phone bill, monthly subscription to streaming service, annual cost of app/service membership, etc. Then I make a list of all of my income dates, which are usually just regularly scheduled pay-days. With both lists, I can easily see which bill has to be paid from each paycheck. You can even set up a spreadsheet to do highlighting for you or something. (I do.)

I use an app that lets me track outgoing and incoming money, like a digital checkbook. I recommend Volkron Checkbook or My Expenses. These are handy apps that let you track all of your bank account balances and enter transactions as money goes in and out so you always know how much you have. *But the key here is to put in future expenses, too!*

Every time I get a payroll deposit, I open the app to add the deposit and balance everything that's happened so far to get an accurate total of how much money I have. Then I take the list of bills and look at everything that will need to be paid up until I get the next deposit, and enter all of those. The app will calculate how much money I have left and I know I can spend up to that amount on other things until the next payday with the confidence that all the bills are already covered.

The other key is to pull out the app every time you make a purchase, so your balance is always accurate. Just because the app has ear-marked the money for an upcoming bill doesn't mean you can't accidentally spend what's in the bank account reserved for it. (The app might tell you there's $1000 left to spend, but the bank tells you there's $1500. You don't want to go making a $600 purchase and spend money set-aside for a bill!)

Sneaky Savings

Another thing I do is hide money from myself. I have several savings accounts, some of which are interest bearing, and a portion of every deposit gets spread across them all. The important part: exclude these accounts from the total shown to you by the checkbook app. You don't want to walk around thinking you have that money or else you'll find a way to spend it instead of saving it.

You can even do this with cash by having a stash somewhere and just “forgetting about it” until it's payday-time to put more cash in it.

Wouldn't you get more interest if you kept one large balance in a single account? Well, yes that's technically true. However, the reason I don't do that is because the psychological difference (for me, at least) between seeing one large balance and lots of little balances makes it less likely for me to be tempted to dip into it.

If you set aside $100 in total, but it only looks like 4, small $20 balances and some cash somewhere, you might not be as tempted to touch it.

Creative Investing

I know, I already talked about having extra money for savings, which is rare enough on it's own. Now I'm suggesting a portfolio!? The idea here is to get your money to work for you, even if it's just the little bit you can spare. Investing less means less gain potential, true, but some is better than none.

For example, I like to play with Crypto. Buy some crypto while it's low, sell it when it's high, profit. (Ok, there's actually way more to it than that, but this is the gist.) You can do the same thing with stocks.

But there's actually a lot more you can do with crypto, as well. You can lend it out with interest, put it in trading bots that will automatically buy/sell based on rules you give them, and even put them in “savings-account” type programs that have yield. Some trading services will have these options and do many of them for you automagically.

Granted, I'm working with less than $50 on all of these, so I'm making $1-$3 every few weeks at the most, but it's still more money than I had, and it'll increase the more I invest so long as the markets behave. I'm trying to say: it's a cheap way to squeeze a little extra out.

Remember: investing of any kind carries risk. Play at your own speed.

I play low-investment with low risk options so I'm making “low” profit, but that's just because of the amount of money I have, amount I can spare, and amount I can afford to lose. I treat all of these additional savings accounts: a small portion gets added to them with each deposit, so my portfolio is constantly growing.

Bottom Line

1. Keep track of where you are by using an app to help be your accountant.
2. Squirrel-away funds as you can so you have a nice surprise for later.
   • The more you spread it out, the harder it will be to give into using it.
3. Find small ways to make your money grow, even if it's just a little.

I don't pretend to be some guru with novel ideas, but I found some things that work for me and figured I'd write about them.

5 Things I'd tell my past self in 5 words or less:

1. Brush your damned teeth, dude.
2. Buy lots of Bitcoin, early.
3. It gets better, I promise.
4. Not everything is a pun.
5. Adventure is out there! Excelsior!

A few of my favorite quotes, sayings, phrases, etc... (Unknown source unless otherwise noted.)

---

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

—Confucius

I've had a lot of successes in my time by breaking things down into their smaller bits and taking them one step at a time.

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If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.

I often must remind myself that my rewards are the result of my efforts, not the prize for trying. Related to this one:

If you really want something, you will find a way. If you don't, you will find an excuse.

—Jim John

Not only does this keep me motivated, but it allows me to prioritize without guilt.

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Rock Out, Spock Out.

—Me

Sometimes I need a reminder to approach something logically but with the balance of a famous science officer...

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Work so hard that people think the aliens did it.

A reminder to crush it. Related:

Hustle until the haters ask if you're hiring.

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You wouldn't plant a seed and then dig it up every day to see how much it's grown.

Progress takes time; it's not always immediately apparent. Work at something, but give it the patience and the right environment to blossom.

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Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.

—Will Rogers

I only partially agree with this one. I think there are lessons to be learned from past experiences, but I do agree that moving on is one of the greatest talents we can build.

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Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn't settle for it.

—Mandy Hale

I want to decide what happens to me, not watch.

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You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.

—CS Lewis

This is inspirational to me all the time, if I apply it right. A lot of what I think goes towards moving forward, not looking back, and this quote rings in the idea that I can make things happen rather than dwelling on what already has.

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New liver, same eagles.

A Greek-ified way of saying “same shit, different day.” Just tickles me.

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If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both.

I think I originally saw this attributed to “an old Native American saying” but I couldn't track it down. I like the notion of focus. I'm great at multi-tasking, but in the immortal words for Ron Swanson: “Don't half-ass two things: Whole-Ass One Thing.”

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Viri praemium non quaerunt.

—Me

Some Latin I wrote, translated to: “Heroes seek not reward.” I try to remind myself to be proud of my motivation for doing something, my cause, my purpose, and focus less on what I'll achieve for it. A true hero does something because it is right to do so or needs to be done, not because he'll receive recognition or reward for it.

Inspired by post: https://lemmy.world/post/13888155

...arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

I like this argument. I used it on someone who says they have nothing to hide. They said the two things weren't related, which I didn't understand. However, I think the parallel is there; privacy and speech are both freedoms, if you're not willing to suspend one, why are you willing to suspend the other? It seems like a valid point to me, but then, you can't argue with everybody.

I need privacy, not because my actions are questionable, but because your judgment and intentions are.

This one feels a little more paranoid, but I think it still holds true. I may not be trying to hide anything, but I'm not particularly excited about what you're going to do with the information if I just give it to you.

There are plenty of areas where I surrender my private information willingly; doctor visits, some forms of banking, my employer, etc. But with others, I feel like it's my right to withhold information about myself and my habits if I don't agree with what you're going to do with that information.

It's that simple.

Would you rather your phone number be posted on every billboard in New York City, or would you rather only hand it out to the friends and family you want contacting you?

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

The argument being made when this is quoted is that God made 2 genders.

God also made water.

He made freshwater, and he made salt water.

He made muddy water, murky water, dirty water, hot water, cold water, all kinds of water. A whole spectrum of water.

The point is, he didn't just create each end of the spectrum; he created the whole spectrum. Because that's what he does; he creates everything.

And fluid gender is an artifact we've observed in nature, in a variety of species. We've observed multiple types of gender and we've observed species that are able to change gender to suit the needs of their environment. One species of fungi, Schizophyllum commune, “has more than 23,000 different sexual identities, a result of widespread differentiation in the genetic locations that govern its sexual behavior.“

Trans-gendered humans have always existed, we're just only now/recently able to identify and classify them. (How do you explain the very real existence of the Hermaphrodite?)

And here's the kicker: God created everything, right? So God created trans-gendered folk as well. They aren't an abomination, they're part of His creation. Saying they aren't by quoting a single piece of scripture, written thousands of years ago out of context and by uneducated, biased men, isn't proving any point other than your own ignorance.

By the way, this passage doesn't say He created only them. It just says that's where he started. He could've created all kinds of other types in doing so, and apparently he did. He created either end of the spectrum, and left the rest of it up to interpretation.

And to Mr. Shapiro, who's use of this passage first spurned the idea I had for this post, I say this: If you're so gun-ho on following passages to the letter, I've got one for you:

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Proverbs 28:26

Oh, and also:

For nothing will be impossible with God.

Luke 1:37

Regardless of how or why, voluntary or not, irrespective of motive, a veteran of the armed forces deserves admiration, reverence, and gratitude.

Veterans perform a duty that has a higher chance than any of the rest of us ever see to put their lives at risk, let alone their physical and mental health. They may be doing it to protect and serve their fellow citizens, or because they are seeking personal gain, or because they were coerced to do so, or had no other choice, but in any case they are knowingly putting themselves in harms way for a cause greater than themselves.

Whether you believe their efforts secure your rights, serve nefarious political wrangling, contribute to the safety of others, or increase the harm to the world, they are nevertheless exposing themselves to an increased likelihood of harm and death in the performance of their duties, and that is not something the rest of us can easily claim.

Can we not hate the War but love the Warrior?

I say, anyone willing to protect my rights or die trying (even if that's not always the reason or result of those actions) deserves a kind of reserved respect and continuous support.

I won't always agree with a veteran's reasons, motivations, or actions, but I will respect their willingness to fight and die for those convictions (which is something I can't say about everything I do), especially when I am benefited by those actions.

Let's look at the modern notion of Christianity where there is a single god, who is omnipotent and omnipresent and omniscient, who created everything, and who has a will and a Plan.

Accept that at face value for a moment, and then mix in the contradictory idea that this god gave its creation, mankind, free will.

If this god knows everything and has a plan by which the occurence of anything can be explained, that means it has preordained how everything will happen based on its ability to know the past, present, and future of all existence.

But mankind was given free will; the ability to make their own decisions and go against the natural order of things.

Let's build a scenario.

You sit in front of an apple and a banana. You must choose one to eat. The will of this god, the preordained plan that has already dictated which one you will eat, says you will eat the banana.

If you choose the banana, you don't actually have free will because what you were going to do was already “destined” to happen and this god knew it.

If you choose the apple, you are exercising the free will you were given, but you are now acting contrary to this god's will and plan. The omnipotence of the god, the plan they conceived, the will they had, was absolutely pointless, powerless, and non-existent.

Free Will and an Intelligent Creator with a Will/Plan is contradictory.

God gave us free will to test us; to discern the good from the evil based on our choices and our following of His teachings.

But if this god is really omniscient, they already know who's gonna decide what and where they'll end up as a result, meaning our future has already been determined and is inescapable, meaning we don't actually have free will because we'll end up with the same result no matter what we “decide” to do.

If we really have the ability to learn, to grow, and to earn salvation through acting differently than what was preordained for us, that means we have the ability to surprise this god, disrupt their plan, become something said god didn't think we could become.

Thus disproving a creator's omniscience, omnipotence, and will/plan.

Even if you entertain the notion that, once mankind was granted free will, the creator of all things could still see all possible outcomes but just didn't know which one would happen. In this scenario, such a god could still be deemed omnipotent and omnipresent, but their ability to know all things and have a Master Plan just went out the window because that god is no longer in control of nor aware or certain of what the future holds.

Free Will granted by an All Powerful Creator is contradictory.

If we have free will granted by a creator, then that creator truly has no power over us, nor any knowledge of what we will do or where we will end up. And if such a being has no power over us, why would we spend so much time trying to earn its good graces and following its rules? If it's because where we'll eventually end up is the result of and consequence of our actions, then this “god” essentially set us at the start of a hedge-maze filled with traps of its own design and then sat back and said “figure it out, dummies.” Our only salvation would be that the rule book we have is accurate, but how could it be if this god is not all-powerful and all-knowing?

If everything that happens is “according to God's Plan,” then we truly have no impact on the world, our place or future within it, or any of existence. That would make us akin to ants on a farm in a glass jar on this god's desk, while they gleefully and sadistically sit back and watch whether we burrow a hole or choose the poison. And who would want to worship someone like that?

It just doesn't make sense. You can't have both. Not without God being the Devil itself.

Here are some of my favorite movies, in no particular order and based solely on the notion that I was able to come up with them quickly and without thinking too long/hard because they are at the forefront of my mind when I think “what movies do I like?”

• Hatari! (1962)
• Star Wars (all of them)
  • see note below
• Bill & Ted (1989 & 1991)
• Amadeus (1984)
• John Wick (all of them)
• The Boondock Saints (1999 & 2009)
• True Grit (1969)
• Goon (2011)
• The Lord of the Rings (all of them, including the Hobbit series)
• Kill Bill (2003 & 2004)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• Young Frankenstein (1974)
• The Addams Family (1991)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
• Highlander (1986)
• The Incredibles (2004 & 2018)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Rock of Ages (2012)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
• The String (1973)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
• Princess Mononoke (1997)

A note about Star Wars

“Which is the best Star Wars movie” is a topic of much (and doubtless never-ending) debate. I'll not make any case as I believe each person should enjoy the movies for their own reasons.

I will say that for me: Empire is the best film, A New Hope is my favorite film, and Rogue One contains my favorite scene. Oh, and Solo is the one in most need of a remake, preferably staring Shia LaBeouf as Han because that'd be funny as hell.

I notice that I tend to favor lower-case. I mean, I'll use upper case where it's appropriate (or my OCD demands it), like with titles/headings, beginnings of sentences, proper nouns, etc., but the rest of the time I use lower-case as a compulsion.

For example, where SQL would traditionally exepect upper case for reserved words, like this:

SELECT
  City,
  State,
  AVG(Income) AverageIncome
FROM people
WHERE Age >= 21
GROUP BY City, State

I would tend to write it as:

select
  City
  ,State
  ,avg(Income) AverageIncome
from people
where Age >= 21
group by
  City
  ,State

because the code is interpreted the same anyway.

All of my filenames are lower-case, I usually write code in lower-case, I create tasks-lists in lower-case, etc.

It's not a big deal, just something I noticed about myself.