A couple days ago I was typing and was interrupted by my watch vibrating. It was asking if I was doing a rowing workout.
I think I need to work on my typing technique
As well as the list my wife has given me.
While I still don't have Bluetooth enabled on the PC, the new Logitech Keyboard has a dongle with it, so I started using it today. Thankfully - It is awesome. I know that some people love mechanical keyboards, but I feel so much better typing on something that feels more like a decent laptop and after the stroke that has messed with my fingers and coordination a bit, it is far faster for me to type on these types of keys.
It is almost relaxing.
AND FAR QUIETER!
Stop shouting.
It was a little more expensive than I would normally pay for a keyboard and well, I have so many from past PCs and work that it is kind of unnecessary, but with the amount that I type and the additional brain issues on top, I "splurged" a little - 119€ ($135) for a keyboard is a lot, but can you put a price on comfort?
Yes.
I came across a term today that I haven't heard before, but seems to be making the rounds. While I splurged, people are "Revenge Shopping" and diverting the money that they would have spent on travel and other consumer goods and services like eating out, on retail shopping instead as "revenge" for the lockdowns.
In my opinion, Shopping doesn't classify as revenge, though shopping could possibly be considered revenge in some cases of the example given:
"other spurned wives have taken public revenge on their husbands"
Was that the best example they could think of?
But, this term that they seem to be looking to normalize as a natural response, is not harming anyone else directly, other than the person partaking in the practice. While this period of time over the last two years has seen a severe widening of the wealth gap, for those who have had their bad spending habits unnaturally curbed, had an opportunity to change their own defaults and potentially start to build an investment position.
But, since people are people, most will do anything for instant gratification over long-term improvement. As a res ult, many have missed the opportunity, just as I have missed it in regards to getting a little healthier through exercising at home.
"Didn't see coming"
Really??
This entire pandemic has seen a massive drive toward retail consumption and especially for the online retailers that could cater at scale - you know, the ones that Blackrock and Vanguard are major investors in. To be surprised by increases in spending once people are "allowed out" but still can't eat out or travel is like the people in Finland who haven't changed to winter tires and are "surprised by the snow" every year.
These days, there are so many opportunities to invest, that it is only possible to take a fraction of them, but I wonder how many will look back on this period and realize that they took none of them. Hindsight makes it easy to always pick a winner, for instance saying "I should have bought Bitcoin" but under normal circumstances, what will win isn't very clear and there is a lot of uncertainty around it.
At the moment however, with the amount of "free money and additional disposable income" floating around, combined with the sheer volume of investment choice, the risk of complete loss is very low, but monumental gain reasonable. And, it isn't like people haven't been warned, as there are a constant flow of articles that cover all kinds of investment positions in mainstream media, even if they are poorly advised.
It is abundantly clear to most people with even a modicum of financial sense that ownership of value generating assets is the way to go, yet the majority of people are still spending instead of investing, with what they purchase coming with a silent guarantee that it is going to be valueless in the near future.
People like certainty.
But, it isn't just what is bought, it is also how that thing is going to be used. For example, purchasing a PC is not a luxury, it is a necessity for me to generate some income streams, but it is going to appear in the "consumer spending" column. And the keyboard, whilst not a necessity, does improve the experience (more than you may realize) of my process of earning that income. This will go to zero also, but what it generates in along its lifecycle should be many multiples more than the initial purchase price.
Tools of the trade.
but, this is not the normal consumer mentality and perhaps if it was, people wouldn't have as much fun shopping, as they would be more discerning with what they bought. Rather than taking revenge in ways that only harms themselves, they would instead take it in a more meaningful way, by becoming more independent and less reliant on the ones who have inflicted the conditions upon them, by buying generative assets that start to earn them wealth, not cost them.
As they say,
Revenge is a dish best served cold
This doesn't mean uncooked, it means calculating and in ways that are least expected. Cold revenge requires delaying gratification and investing into the outcome of the future. The instant gratification of retail shopping is not the behavior of the vengeful, it is the actions of the immature, a petulant child who will fail a test to spite the parents, not realizing what the cost to themselves may be.
But, at least this leaves more opportunities on the table for those who are willing to consider what value means and their own role that can affect the outcomes. Maybe, rather than dishing out revenge, perhaps a better revenge is,
Held in a cold wallet.
I suspect that in a few years from now, the people who did invest themselves into generative assets will be richly rewarded, but likely and at least in the traditional vehicles, it will be mostly the same people who always benefit. While the majority are out celebrating their freedom, the minority will be investing into more control.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]