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I've been a home-based PR consultant for nearly 30 years -- now mostly for small medical device companies -- after a spectacularly undistinguished career in TV news. I live in Bremerton, Washington, where I still referee soccer, sing barbershop, perform in local theater, pump a little iron and deliver for Meals on Wheels.
Comments
I’ve always felt optimism is a natural gift, Dan. My divorce was pure betrayal, and my health issues were supposed to end my life, yet somehow I never got really down or discouraged. I can’t take any credit for that. I think I was just born with the bone in my head that makes me think everything‘s gonna turn out OK in the end. Sounds like you have it too.
Post: Around the Obstacles
Link to comment from April 25, 2026
That’s a massive consideration.
Post: How it all pencils out–or at least, we hope so! (Our Big “Little” Move, Part 3)
Link to comment from April 24, 2026
What a superb contribution, Andrew. Many thanks for these reflections. I ponder these issues often, most recently yesterday when I was delivering Foodline boxes to disabled seniors (it’s part of the local Meals on wheels program). These are some of the poorest members of our community, yet they do have this safety net, slender though it may be, to ensure that they have enough to eat. And in many parts of the world, Bangladesh among them, just this basic standard would qualify as wealth – because so many millions of people don’t have even this.
Post: What Bangladesh Taught Me About Enough
Link to comment from April 17, 2026
Thanks for this detailed account. You didn’t specifically mention it, but it seems like you’re staying in Davis (a lovely area, certainly, but that summer heat would kill me!!). We also went through the process of selling one home and buying another simultaneously. It worked out, but it’s not something I would ever consider again. Too stressful. Too many parts of the process that aren’t in your control. Did the idea of moving cause you any concerns? I’ve packed up my life and moved many times, and each time it becomes less appealing. How did you cope with that?
Post: Buying and Selling our Condo (Our Big “Little” Move, Part 2)
Link to comment from April 17, 2026
What a wise and funny article, Mark. You’ve got me chuckling at 6:30 AM, which runs very much counter to how my own brain is wired. I use my own “zoom out” strategy for moments like this. Every year for the last 30, I have issued myself an annual report – on New Year’s Day I print out the one page summary of my assets and holdings, and throw it in a file folder. And when I’m awake at 3 AM, feeling stressed or insecure, I open the folder and pick a report from five or 10 or 15 years ago. It’s the fastest tranquilizer imaginable.
Post: Recency Bias (or: You’re Running Buggy Software)
Link to comment from April 8, 2026
That would indeed be a terrific article idea, Kristine, especially since financial planning for elder care is top of mind for many still-working couples. My own household is a dream situation for an elderly person. Mama (my MIL) is the center of attention for both her daughters and her son-in-law. Even the dog listens to her.
Post: Financial regrets about parenthood?
Link to comment from April 8, 2026
The blanket assumption that the childless will be neglected in their final years is by no means necessarily valid. Many of the seniors to whom I deliver Meals on Wheels are without children, either because they didn’t have them or because the kids have bailed out, but many have friends or other relatives to fall back on — folks who can serve in the role you describe even if they are not biological offspring. For myself, I had the profound wisdom to marry a much younger woman, who against all odds still appears to like me a bit. So I think I will be OK.
Post: Financial regrets about parenthood?
Link to comment from April 7, 2026
The blanket assumption that the childless will be neglected in their final years is by no means necessarily valid. Many of the seniors to whom I deliver Meals on Wheels are without children, either because they didn’t have them or because the kids have bailed out, but many have friends or other relatives to fall back on. For myself, I had the profound wisdom to marry a much younger woman, who against all odds still appears to like me a bit. Shall I think I will be OK.
Post: Financial regrets about parenthood?
Link to comment from April 7, 2026
I own both a share of my favorite English soccer team and a brick in their stadium. Guaranteed failures as investments, but they make me feel good.
Post: Keeping up with the Jonses— at least it looks that way.
Link to comment from March 30, 2026
Mark, I’m more than a bit skeptical that there is a “pattern” in evidence with these colorful anecdotes. Do these examples happen? Of course they do, and people read about them and remember them forever (a couple of these stories are literally decades old). But nobody writes about people who make rational, reasonable financial decisions, like investing their lottery or contest winnings. They’re not fun or interesting, and their stories don’t wind up in the newspapers, destined to live forever online. I would take some convincing to believe that the weird, quirky and stupid people who inhabit these hilarious stories are more than just a very small percentage.
Post: Irrational Financial Choices
Link to comment from January 18, 2026