Drugs are almost always a good investment. I've known several people who did pretty well in that field. Very high risk, however.
" The one flyer I have taken recently was in a marijuana fund, and that has more than doubled"
I hope it does not go up in smoke... but then you have all of North America's governments going to buy it.
Ouch,
Ed you probably know this , there is a time limit on rollovers. Also do not take the money yourself and "rollover" into a Vanguard IRA, or anyone's funds, it must be a trust to trust transfer, otherwise the Feds will tax you.
We have about 60% of our investment in various Vanguard funds. They are very easy to work with. Most everything is done on line.
Art
The words in Ed's recent posts that most caught my eye were, "I lost my job in November."
I don't know Ed, or the exact circumstances, but some googling turned up the most likely explanation. It seems he didn't so much lose his job as have it disappear into thin air. The corporate types who ran his paper decided, as they usually do, in favor of the stockholders.
I was maybe more bothered by this than most, as someone who managed to feed himself for 40 years from newspaper work and who just barely made it safely to retirement myself, with 401k intact, about six years ago. Were I two or three years younger, my fate probably would have been the same as Ed's.
Nice that Ed was able to grab what's a baffling and too complex subject for most of us and through some careful research boil it into a few neat paragraphs that found the meat and cooked it up into something tasty that we could easily digest. That, right there, is what journalists do. The good ones, at least.
I hope Ed is able to pull his life together and stay afloat. He's making noises about everything being OK, if only just. At least he still has a platform here to help us out with our cooling problems, our fiberglass problems, and with how to make fake plastic cars look like the aluminum originals. There are really few things more useful than competent mechanics with good journalistic skills.
In that sense, we are probably luckier than the citizens of Baltimore who have lost an important voice in Ed and his paper. We live in times when life's waters are getting murkier - harder to see through and more difficult to navigate. It's traditionally been journalism's job to shed light on the dark and the murky - to separate the truth from what the bad guys are trying to pass off as the truth.
I just hope that Ed will now have the time and the resources to figure out for me, once and for all, just which oil I should be using to separate my flat tappets from my camshaft.
This thread went from great to greatness in one day! 
Sacto Mitch posted:The words in Ed's recent posts that most caught my eye were, "I lost my job in November."
That jumped off the screen at me as well. I still get the local paper. I'm the only one on my street, and my kids think it's a cute little anachronism that proves I've got too much time and money on my hands. The paper is about 1/10 the size it was in it's heyday, and is about 75% ads. I'm pretty sure they're down to about 5 guys actually writing anything.
If a man like Ed can lose his job in a print market (formerly) as big as Baltimore's, then perhaps democracy really will "die in darkness".
It really, really bums me out.
When the stockholder takes precedence over basic human decency, even with good profits already booked.......its a dark moment for civility. When medication costs $1800/month, to theoretically subsidized BIG PHARMA R&D, we've lost our way as compassionate citizens. Even dogs feed their hungry first....are we that dumb that we cannot recognize very basic fundamental responsibilities to feed the hungry, heal the sick, educate the uneducated....so that the stockholders get fat beyond their foie gras waistlines?
Trump cuts EPA, OSHA budgets so that our kids can breathe soot and oil slicks can coat our oyster plates AND trim kids health insurance so his buddies can snort some high grade Peruvian marching powder
. The guy is a **ckin lunartic and his self proclamation of his genius is the icing on the cake.
Yes indeed...the water IS getting murkier....literally and otherwise. Good luck Ed
, moving past a hopefully temporary snafu.....
Ed, I really hate hearing about your plight, having been there several times myself. With your skills I am sure that something will come up, but it may require some flexibility on your part. Hang in there, we’re all pulling for you.
Art posted:Ouch,
Ed you probably know this , there is a time limit on rollovers. Also do not take the money yourself and "rollover" into a Vanguard IRA, or anyone's funds, it must be a trust to trust transfer, otherwise the Feds will tax you.
We have about 60% of our investment in various Vanguard funds. They are very easy to work with. Most everything is done on line.
Art
Yeah, got it. The money's in a qualified account already, so no worries there. The account managers charge about 1.5 percent annually for active management tho, which is why it's in cash, pending transfer out. It's all good.
Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone. If you know of any good jobs I might could do from my base in Joppa, MD, let me know in private. So far in the job market, I see a lot of things I could almost certainly do well, but because I lack the requisite direct experience, I'm basically locked out. For example, I could probably be a pretty good technical writer, and there are a lot of job openings, but I've never yet been a technical writer, and I don't have a security clearance. You know the deal.
Meanwhile, I am still a journalist. I wrote two stories since Thursday and have a third awaiting publication. One should appear today on The Atlantic Monthly's blog site. It's called City Lab.
There's a big one I hope to see out in the next few weeks on a site called Maryland Matters. If you guys want, I'll put the links up for you.
The problem with freelancing is the pay. There usually isn't enough to make it worth my time. So I plan to invest my time toward the best potential ROI. This is my big new revelation in life. A lesson I might fruitfully have learned many years ago!
So you all know this too: I really am OK. My wife and I live below our means and I still have plenty of good years left in me, earnings-wise. I don't see any reason I won't find remunerative work before my severance and/or UI runs out. And in the mean time I've got glorious free time to play in the garage, freelance, work on the novel, have lunch with friends and former colleagues, paint the kitchen, etc. etc.
I've been unemployed twice before and, frankly, both times were invigorating. So far this one is better yet, because I'm married to a wonderful (albeit not too much younger) woman and no longer dirt-poor.
OK, time to make waffles...
Ed,
You rock.
Having hired a LOT of Tech writers in my career across my last three companies, I don't necessarily see a lot in the way of prerequisites.... The ability to understand what the designers/testers tell you and to put that technical BS into something resembling "Techno-English" that can be readily absorbed is what matters. You're certainly technical enough in what you've been relating on here to fit that model.
The big impediment is (as always) finding that person in a company who needs someone and can get a position funded. You have a large enough body of work that they can see that you can write very well, you just have to be lucky and find that person with an open req. The usual approach is to blanket the world with resumés and see what pops up, and a "targeted approach" is to have a friend who works there hand-deliver your resumé to someone hiring and maybe help to sell you into the position.
The alternative approach, as I did for my last position, is to identify the place you really want to work in and the position that you would fill, if it existed. Then, find the person in the company who would manage that position and convince him/her that they really need this position/function, That they should open a req. for it and then convince them that YOU would be the best choice to fill it. Admittedly, this approach can feel very risky as you progress and concentrate on one place, and it flies straight in the face of both accepted procedure AND common sense, but, trust me, it works. When I did this, I sent out exactly three resumés, two to the same company, different people - My wife thought I was nuts and VERY anxious (I had been "RIF'd" from my prior place, too), even after I explained what I was doing. This process took about two months until I had an offer (It usually takes about a month to open a hiring req).
I have waded through hundreds of resumés in my career, most of them arrived by mail, others from co-workers, others from headhunters and exactly two from people who sought me out to tell me why I needed help and how they could help me. I hired both of them. Of all the other resumés received, the only ones that ever got hired were those sponsored by co-workers who saw my need for help and sold their friend/acquaintance into it. Not one from a headhunter and not one forwarded from HR, even as I got up into larger management positions - every one I ever hired was from a referral.
Just food for thought, Ed. And the very best of luck.
You're following in the footsteps of Tom Ryan (Following Atticus/Will's Red Coat) and Tracy Kidder (The Soul of a New Machine/Strength in what Remains..) Both started out as good journalists. Max, too!
Gordon
Real Estate did me well...Divorce took it all away!
Divorce did me well, I got the house :~)\
Alan Merklin posted:Divorce did me well, I got the house :~)\
Not ONLY did you get the house...............you GOT RID of her!.......ADDITION by SUBTRACTION
divorce did me good, we had 3 horses(money pit+) and i got rid of 4 nags at once..
My brother finally left the newsapaper he worked at for 37 years. He tried to retire twice but never left because the thought of not writing was something for which he wasn’t ready. A local developer and philanthropist had been recruiting him for some time to run and write his online, politically themed blog. My brother threw out a hefty salary requirement and several months later the gentleman agreed to the salary. My brother has said the move was the best thing for him. He writes about the issues that matter to him. The online blog is www.gvwire.com. and he is Bill M. The newspaper he worked at slowly shrank from 300K plus subscribers to less than 100K today and has been reduced in size and weight substantially. He is happier now than he has been in a while. You have a real talent for writing and I believe you’ll find something soon. Good luck Ed.
Interesting site, Robert. And not unlike Marylandmatters.org, which is a reporter with some non-profit D.C. backers, or even CityLab, which is The Atlantic Monthly's online node. It's important for these places to fill in at least some of the gaps left by the receding newspapers, although I have a whole rap—which I won't go into—about why they'll not be able to do enough.
Your brother had the right idea: the way to make a living on one of these is to take the salary and the responsibility for making the numbers spin. Writing the actual "content" is kind of a mug's game.
Even so, right now I'm happy to toss off a few stories here and there on the real cold days, and work on the Spyder on the warm days. Hopefully, by the time the Spyder is sorted, I'll have a new full-time salaried thing.
edsnova posted:Interesting site, Robert. And not unlike Marylandmatters.org, which is a reporter with some non-profit D.C. backers, or even CityLab, which is The Atlantic Monthly's online node. It's important for these places to fill in at least some of the gaps left by the receding newspapers, although I have a whole rap—which I won't go into—about why they'll not be able to do enough.
Your brother had the right idea: the way to make a living on one of these is to take the salary and the responsibility for making the numbers spin. Writing the actual "content" is kind of a mug's game.
Even so, right now I'm happy to toss off a few stories here and there on the real cold days, and work on the Spyder on the warm days. Hopefully, by the time the Spyder is sorted, I'll have a new full-time salaried thing.
Not to brag but my brother was a big draw for the newspaper and now this online blog thing. The month before my brother started at the online blog their monthly page hits was only in the low four figures. His first month there it was in the high five figures and climbing. He's happy and the guy who owns the blog is happy.
Ed, this will be but a blip in short order! Chin up, my brother!
Phil, I haven't been on in a while. Glad your trip went well. Car looks AWESOME! Greg didn't happen to send you back with a couple t-shirts for his East Coast buddies, did he?
T-shirts??? Greg where's my t-shirt???
I am pretty sure I will be at Carlisle this year, I will bring some with me.
Greg
Sweet
LOL that's cool! Thanks Greg. XL. Truly looking forward to it!
When exactly is the Carlisle event? I looked on their website but wasn’t clear when exactly the event is...since this thread has drifted well out beyond the horizon I didn’t think anyone would mind if I threw this question out.
15th Speedsters Meet Spyders, Carlisle PA, May 17-20, 2018
Perfect/ thank you! If I can make it I’ll head out there. Little ways from California but I’ll likely need to be out that way for business anyway.
So my spyder’s new home was delivered to Charlottesville house this morning. Just a small 16’x10’ shed. Should be ample. Now I’ve just got to get the car. Since my car is getting a new ECU programming has taken longer than expected. Told Greg I don’t want the car until it’s right.
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Phil.
I hope you can add some security to that building. I would worry about such a special car, especially if you won’t be around all the time.
I love that little doghouse.
Ha. My dog is a yorkie so this shed is enormous to him. Yes it is for storage only. It does have a loft for a bit more storage. Hoping the car is reliable enough so I don't need a working garage. Electrician here now hooking up electrics. Has 5 electric outlets and switched ceiling LED. Running a dedicated 15 amp circuit for trickle charger, heater, power tools if needed. Outlet in ceiling if I decide I need garage door opener. Ramp is temporary until I get asphalt driveway. Bob. I have ADT security and plan on running a motion sensor to the garage. Its a safe neighborhood a couple blocks from UVA. I think it will probably be ok.
Looks good, do you need any kind of heat in that garage for one month a year when it gets cold ? 
Ray I think it will be ok without heat. Never gets below the 20s F.
Hard half tonneau is done. You can see ECU wire on passenger seat. Going back to Outfront for the 4th time for some more tweeking. I really want this sorted before it’s delivered.
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Well a car capsule would work ... How does that tonneau hold onto the car? Metal or Glass?
The Guillotine.
Its fiberglass. Not sure about fixation points. And yes a passenger side impact might be bad for the driver. Ouch!
My plan is to heat the shed to a decent temperature before starting the car in the winter. But I'm not going to heat it all the time.
Any collision in our plastic cars wouldn't be good, but a rear ender in a Spyder is a scary thought. Clam shell breaking loose and shooting forward taking heads with it as it shoots forward. I don't think those feeble bonnet latches and leather straps will do a damn thing to prevent this.
Carlos G posted:Any collision in our plastic cars wouldn't be good, but a rear ender in a Spyder is a scary thought. Clam shell breaking loose and shooting forward taking heads with it as it shoots forward. I don't think those feeble bonnet latches and leather straps will do a damn thing to prevent this.
Scary!
Carlos G posted:Any collision in our plastic cars wouldn't be good, but a rear ender in a Spyder is a scary thought. Clam shell breaking loose and shooting forward taking heads with it as it shoots forward. I don't think those feeble bonnet latches and leather straps will do a damn thing to prevent this.
Let’s not overthink this or no one will drive their cars.
Those latches held on mine, granted, impact was mostly frontal. But after the front impact and spin, the rear hit the guardrail hard enough to crack and crush the LR corner. I don't have the leather straps. I am very lucky and also glad to have a stout frame to protect me. Bent the heck out of the driver's door hinges with my left arm/shoulder.
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Getting into a wreck in a plastic car is never a good idea. Pretty safe compared to my Ducatis. Its all relative.