My Personal Credit Crisis

[davelj]

[quote=scaredycat]real innovators aren’t usually going for a buck; they’re following their wacky ideas and dreams. [/quote]

Think about that for a second. Think about most of the great innovations of the last several hundred years. Why did they happen? Because someone wanted to make a buck. A few perhaps didn’t – I’m thinking of some medical breakthroughs and others, where “larger” humanitarian issues were the driver. But, for the most part – if you really think about it – innovation comes precisely because someone wanted to put a little change in their pocket. If you were to put all of the patent applications currently on file with the US Patent Office into one of two categories, “Wacky idea and dream” or “I want to market this thing to make money,” I can almost guarantee that 90%+ fall into the latter category.

[davelj]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.

[davelj]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.

[davelj]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.

[davelj]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.

[davelj]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.

[DWCAP]

[quote=davelj]Ah… and more interesting details emerge about the wife of this man and his Personal Credit Crisis. He managed to omit his wife’s TWO previous bankruptcies…

http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/the_road_to_bankruptcy.php

Interesting stuff.[/quote]

This doesnt suprise me at all. Read the two quotes below and they just dont jive. It bugged me the first time I read it. How does an editor, who hasnt worked in a decade or two, have such great knowledge about very expensive clothes she got a good entry level job when she doesnt buy any for herself?

[quote]”We had very different ideas about money. Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me.” [/quote]

[quote]”When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it.”[/quote]

Oh, I see. She was just shopping for everyone else in the house. (I highly doubt this)
“She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet.”

Ill bet most of the people in his office didnt think his old clothes were drap and fraying. And I can only extrapolate what I know about similar people to guess that she was also often replacing her “drab and fraying clothes”.

“She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Nearly every person I know who says this type of thing is almost always in financial trouble. Unless they actually mean the actual nickels or dimes, it is amazing how much money can just be ‘nickels and dimes’. Especially when being purchased on a credit card.

[DWCAP]

[quote=davelj]Ah… and more interesting details emerge about the wife of this man and his Personal Credit Crisis. He managed to omit his wife’s TWO previous bankruptcies…

http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/the_road_to_bankruptcy.php

Interesting stuff.[/quote]

This doesnt suprise me at all. Read the two quotes below and they just dont jive. It bugged me the first time I read it. How does an editor, who hasnt worked in a decade or two, have such great knowledge about very expensive clothes she got a good entry level job when she doesnt buy any for herself?

[quote]”We had very different ideas about money. Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me.” [/quote]

[quote]”When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it.”[/quote]

Oh, I see. She was just shopping for everyone else in the house. (I highly doubt this)
“She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet.”

Ill bet most of the people in his office didnt think his old clothes were drap and fraying. And I can only extrapolate what I know about similar people to guess that she was also often replacing her “drab and fraying clothes”.

“She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Nearly every person I know who says this type of thing is almost always in financial trouble. Unless they actually mean the actual nickels or dimes, it is amazing how much money can just be ‘nickels and dimes’. Especially when being purchased on a credit card.

[DWCAP]

[quote=davelj]Ah… and more interesting details emerge about the wife of this man and his Personal Credit Crisis. He managed to omit his wife’s TWO previous bankruptcies…

http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/the_road_to_bankruptcy.php

Interesting stuff.[/quote]

This doesnt suprise me at all. Read the two quotes below and they just dont jive. It bugged me the first time I read it. How does an editor, who hasnt worked in a decade or two, have such great knowledge about very expensive clothes she got a good entry level job when she doesnt buy any for herself?

[quote]”We had very different ideas about money. Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me.” [/quote]

[quote]”When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it.”[/quote]

Oh, I see. She was just shopping for everyone else in the house. (I highly doubt this)
“She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet.”

Ill bet most of the people in his office didnt think his old clothes were drap and fraying. And I can only extrapolate what I know about similar people to guess that she was also often replacing her “drab and fraying clothes”.

“She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Nearly every person I know who says this type of thing is almost always in financial trouble. Unless they actually mean the actual nickels or dimes, it is amazing how much money can just be ‘nickels and dimes’. Especially when being purchased on a credit card.

[DWCAP]

[quote=davelj]Ah… and more interesting details emerge about the wife of this man and his Personal Credit Crisis. He managed to omit his wife’s TWO previous bankruptcies…

http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/the_road_to_bankruptcy.php

Interesting stuff.[/quote]

This doesnt suprise me at all. Read the two quotes below and they just dont jive. It bugged me the first time I read it. How does an editor, who hasnt worked in a decade or two, have such great knowledge about very expensive clothes she got a good entry level job when she doesnt buy any for herself?

[quote]”We had very different ideas about money. Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me.” [/quote]

[quote]”When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it.”[/quote]

Oh, I see. She was just shopping for everyone else in the house. (I highly doubt this)
“She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet.”

Ill bet most of the people in his office didnt think his old clothes were drap and fraying. And I can only extrapolate what I know about similar people to guess that she was also often replacing her “drab and fraying clothes”.

“She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Nearly every person I know who says this type of thing is almost always in financial trouble. Unless they actually mean the actual nickels or dimes, it is amazing how much money can just be ‘nickels and dimes’. Especially when being purchased on a credit card.

[DWCAP]

[quote=davelj]Ah… and more interesting details emerge about the wife of this man and his Personal Credit Crisis. He managed to omit his wife’s TWO previous bankruptcies…

http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/05/the_road_to_bankruptcy.php

Interesting stuff.[/quote]

This doesnt suprise me at all. Read the two quotes below and they just dont jive. It bugged me the first time I read it. How does an editor, who hasnt worked in a decade or two, have such great knowledge about very expensive clothes she got a good entry level job when she doesnt buy any for herself?

[quote]”We had very different ideas about money. Patty spent little on herself, but she refused to scrimp on top-quality produce, Starbucks coffee, bottled juices, fresh cheeses and clothing for the children and for me.” [/quote]

[quote]”When Saks Fifth Avenue offered her a full-time job selling high-end clothing on commission — something she knew about and loved — she grabbed it.”[/quote]

Oh, I see. She was just shopping for everyone else in the house. (I highly doubt this)
“She regularly bought me new shirts and ties to replace the frayed and drab ones in my closet.”

Ill bet most of the people in his office didnt think his old clothes were drap and fraying. And I can only extrapolate what I know about similar people to guess that she was also often replacing her “drab and fraying clothes”.

“She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes.”

Nearly every person I know who says this type of thing is almost always in financial trouble. Unless they actually mean the actual nickels or dimes, it is amazing how much money can just be ‘nickels and dimes’. Especially when being purchased on a credit card.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=davelj][quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.[/quote]

Dave: George Bernard Shaw said it best:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=davelj][quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.[/quote]

Dave: George Bernard Shaw said it best:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=davelj][quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.[/quote]

Dave: George Bernard Shaw said it best:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

[Allan from Fallbrook]

[quote=davelj][quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=afx114]If it weren’t for optimism and “dumb risk” there wouldn’t be footprints on the moon.[/quote]

Afx: Well said and exactly right.

Scaredy: At some point you realize there’s a difference between “living” and “existing”. Spoken as someone who used to jump out of airplanes as a job, “living” is a LOT more fun. I don’t recommend the getting shot at part of that same job, but as Winston Churchill opined, there is something exhilarating about getting shot at and missed. You have to experience Life, the good, the bad, and everything in between. What’s the point of having been here, otherwise?

[/quote]

Good point, Allan. Two things come to mind. First, a quote from the Most Interesting Man in the World (Dos Equis commercials): “You only live once. Make sure it’s enough.”

Second, and more seriously, we as a society benefit from the aggregate “irrationality” of the risk takers. Yes, 99% may fail, but we benefit greatly from the 1% that succeed – whether in athletics, art or invention. Thus, what is “irrational” for the individual is necessary for the greater good. Now, this doesn’t extend to finance and banking, where society is on the hook for the mistakes. But we probably want more Bill Gates’ running around and trying to innovate, despite the unlikelihood of their success, as opposed to less. We don’t care who individually comes up with the successful innovations – just so long as someone does.[/quote]

Dave: George Bernard Shaw said it best:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him… The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself… All progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

[Author]

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