Reflections on parenting, health, finance, and travel. Because optimizing a workflow is useless if you don’t have a life to enjoy with the time you saved.

99% Invisible

Split composition showing a manhole cover: left side shows pedestrians walking past on a city street; right side reveals close-up intricate decorative details including gears, laurel wreaths, and the date 1923

I have talked before about my love of podcasts and the app I use to listen to them. I highly suggest you listen to podcasts and use Overcast to listen to them.

One of the podcasts you should subscribe to is 99% Invisible. A new episode of 99PI is one of my favorite events of the week! The production quality sets the bar by which I judge all other podcasts (most are found wanting), and the stories they tell are compelling. Every episode is a no regret, automatic listen. You can listen to one of my favorite recent episodes below:

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Square Cash

Two people at a coffee shop table, both smiling and holding phones showing completed payment transaction checkmarks, with coffee and pastries between them

Ever since I was I kid, I have been a fan of heist movies. To this day, I will argue that The Usual Suspects has the best plot twist of any movie of all time. But there are only so many The Usual Suspect caliber movies out there, so to fill the void I had to slum it a bit with lower quality heist movies, enter Swordfish, The Italian Job, and the like.

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Storybots

Parent and young child sitting together on a couch, both smiling and engaged while watching educational content on a tablet in a warm, sunlit living room

When my son was born, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to dive into the world of children’s entertainment.

This scared me because I didn’t even like kid’s shows when I was a kid, much less as a sleep deprived and stressed out parent.

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Financial Freedom Step 3- Bank Better

Split composition contrasting traditional banking on the left (cluttered checkbooks, paper statements stamped with 'FEE' and 'OVERDRAFT NOTICE,' scattered coins) with modern digital banking on the right (clean tablet and phone interfaces showing account growth, with glowing lines suggesting automated transfers)

Congrats, you probably have a clearer understanding of your finances and a better plan for your debt than anyone you work with. I don’t know why, but teachers are inherently bad at this, so be proud of your progress. You are on your way to being the Rich Uncle Pennybags of your school.

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Label Maker

You might ask why a label maker is one of the first things I am reviewing. I know it might sound silly but a label maker (this one in particular) is one of those things that you never knew you needed.

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