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Online, no one knows you’re poor

Last call!

Actually, just last call for me. Today’s my (Jim’s) last day of curation before J.D. jumps back on the wheel. I had a blast, as always, and hope you did too.

Can you do me a favor and let me know how I did? What did you enjoy? What was just “meh?” Reply and let me know, please please please!

Today’s is a grab bag of a bunch of stuff I found interesting and/or useful… no rhyme or reason. Just top-notch.

Online, no one knows you’re poor [The Guardian] – “Shauna Ahern used to make her living by writing a food blog. But when times got tough, she realised keeping up appearances can make you lose sight of life’s meaning.” Social media + Keeping up with the influencer Joneses = disaster.

The simple words that save lives – “In 1984, Dallas, Texas, a call to the emergency services went catastrophically wrong. An elderly woman had stopped breathing, or was struggling to breathe, in her home. Her son, clearly distressed, called 911. The conversation between the caller and the dispatcher quickly spiraled out of control. Both parties appeared to argue for several minutes over the condition of the woman. The caller, increasingly exasperated, refuses to give straight answers to many of the dispatcher’s questions. The dispatcher, equally frustrated, eventually hung up with a curt “’kay, b’bye”. Thirteen minutes later paramedics were sent to the home where the woman in question was pronounced dead.” Some very good tips on how to communicate during a crisis.

How Much Should You Have in a 529 Plan by Age [The College Investor] – As a 529 plan devotee, this post by Robert sets good age-related “checkpoints” for your plan. It’s based on reasonable assumptions (paying 50% of the projected costs of in-state tuition of $10,200 per year for four years).

This one is a question I bet you’ve always asked whenever you feed the meter…

How Much Money Do Parking Lots Actually Make? [Mel Magazine] – “Paid parking lots: Those slabs of asphalt in the middle of cities with narrow spaces and often extortionate rates are pretty much a necessary evil if you own a car and spend any time in the city. But what’s their side of it like? Why even run a parking lot on a piece of urban land instead of building, like, an actual building? Are they goldmines, or what? What are their costs like?” It’s light on numbers but it does a good job explaining the strategy behind them.

Just when you thought you heard of everything… read this:

The Dangerously Cheesy Collectible Cheetos Market [The Outline] – “Dozens of “rare Cheetos,” shaped like everything from Donald Trump to a squirrel, are up for sale on eBay. But who’s buying?” I never buy Cheetos because I love Cheetos. If I had a bag in the house, it’d be gone in milliseconds. But I had no idea there was a secondary market for Cheetos shaped like things. Now I wonder how much of that sweet sweet eBay money I’ve inadvertently eaten!

Catch you on the flip side!