Good morning, money nerds, and welcome to Friday. Here’s what we have for you today.
Mental models for career changes. [Farnam Street] — “Career changes are some of the biggest moves we will ever make, but they don’t have to be daunting. Using mental models to make decisions we determine where we want to go and how to get there. The result is a change that aligns with the person we are, as well as the person we want to be.”
The dark miracle of the American supermarket. [National Public Radio] — “How much do most customers know about what really goes on behind the scenes in our local supermarkets — now or before the coronavirus pandemic? What’s gained and lost as all that food makes its way to the shelves? Author Benjamin Lorr spent five years looking into that as he studied all aspects of American supermarkets — from the suppliers, distributors and supply routes to the workers in the retail outlets themselves.”
Love is not a big enough word. [Esquire] — “His wife was just thirty-four. They had two little girls. The cancer was everywhere, and the parts of dying that nobody talks about were about to start. His best friend came to help out for a couple weeks. And he never left.” [A five-year-old article I read for the first time over Thanksgiving.]
To wrap up the week, here’s one of the best things I’ve found all year. It’s “The Egg”, a short story by Andy Weir (who wrote The Martian) translated into an eight-minute animation by the always-awesome Kurzgesagt channel on YouTube.
What if you were all of the people who exist, ever were, and ever will be? What if you were everyone, and what if your experience living all of these lives was merely preparation for the next phase of existence? It’s a flight of fancy, of course, but a beautiful, mind-bending flight of fancy.
And with that, have a great weekend…