Go from burnt out to FIREd up.
Catching up on post from the excellent blog of Dr. Networth, I was pleased to discover an introduction to another fine Canuck from Ontario, Dr. Matt Poyner. Matt’s a fellow emergency physician, so I already feel we share some DNA. A year ago Matt had every reason to live a typical doctor life: home ownership, four young sons ages 7-11 …
A month ago, my wife headed over to a friend’s home for a book club for mothers from the local elementary school, leaving me on dad duty with the kids. I reached out to a fellow father in similar straits, and invited him to bring his kids over for a casual taco night and playdate at our place. After dinner, …
I was like every other dope fiend, mistaking sobriety for personal strength, when I walked back into my den of iniquity and tempted fate by activating all my bad habit triggers at once. My addiction was not to a chemical substance, but rather, to buying nice clothes and reliable gear at deep discount. With apologies to the Clash: I fought …
I graduated high school in the early 90s. Depending on your yardstick, I was too mathlete, too drama, too raised by parents who listened to Julio Iglesias, or too many other things to truly be immersed in the Wu Tang Clan during their heyday. The Tang of my childhood was associated with astronauts, not music. Despite the odds, a couple …
Today marks my 12th year of marriage. It’s our Silk Anniversary, according to those who would use our partnership milestone as a marketing opportunity for personal commercial gain. My wife is quirky – her mind runs at a mile a minute, and sometimes she can’t stop herself from analyzing a problem. She’s a perpetual optimizer and a master logistician. She …
I recently had the pleasure of a prospective, completely non-randomized and uncontrolled follow-up on a friend from my days in Boston, and it was a joy to discover the unusual path he’s taken. It went down like this: I reached out to an old friend from residency who’d disappeared off the face of the earth for a decade since attending …
A recent comment from a colleague in pediatrics began with the qualification, “I am a low-income physician…” As an amateur bird watcher, I take joy in the picturesque names that come with this hobby. Resplendent quetzal is a favorite; another is a Cuban term for a tiny hummingbird, pajaro mosca, which translates roughly to housefly bird. Low-income physician seems a …
I believe it was the ancient Greek philosopher Whodini who famously posited: Friends – how many of us have them? My greatest return on investment to date as a finance blogger has been developing friendships within the finance freaks-and-geeks diaspora. When two or more consenting adult bloggers like each other very much, the big famous household name blogger offers to …
A few years ago, our daughter befriended a girl who spoke no English. The girl’s father, a Michelin-rated chef from Tuscany, had been recruited to run a high concept Italian restaurant in LA. For the record, at the restaurants I frequent, Michelin means tires, not food. My daughter’s first language is Spanish, which was similar enough to Italian that the …
Imagine I told you about a country bordering ours where innocents are killed regularly, guns are everywhere, and life is cheap. Imagine everything you read in the press supported those notions. Now imagine that you are a Mexican national and the place I was telling you about was LA or Chicago or Miami. There’s no way you’d vacation there. Kind …