I am so miffed at all the financial reports and advice that states how many millions-of-dollars a person needs to be comfortable, to retire, et. al. Giving actual dollar amounts is pretty dumb. Every life is different, every account has a different spend.
Instead, multiples matter more than millions. That is already the common factor when it comes to advice of emergency funds (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12). I would have you make it a common factor of your financial planning!
Using actual dollars makes the rule-of-thumb calculations much harder than they need to be too. The commonly touted safe withdrawal rate of 4% for retirement (a term I will interchangeably use with financial independence)? Well, that 4% is the spend of one (1) year of living. And to figure out the wealth to support that withdrawal, we are told to take what we aim to spend per year in retirement, and divide by .04 – ick!
Rather, consider this: 4% is also one-twenty-fifth (4/100 = 1/25) of the total amount of expenses expected to keep in net wealth; flip that around (100/4) and that means 25x a year of expenses today suffices the 4% Rule!
And don’t get me started on how actual dollar figures change and decay (i.e. inflate) over time. Subjective and average numbers are not consistent, are not applicable to you nor I! The thief of joy is any figure that is not yours; get your own figures and your own confidence of how you are doing by standards lived by your reality.
So let’s talk more on multiples. We saw the common financial independence “4% Rule” is 25x a year’s cost; 5% (discussed as a more reasonable withdrawal, especially if looking to die with $0) is 20x (100/5); 6% Fat FIRE (live like a rockstar after work) is ~17x; etc.
Example: A person has spent about $60,000 in the last few years – they have a stable lifestyle they are content with and find enjoyment in. Cool. They feel safe with a tad more risk or vacation allowance than the 4% Rule, so opt to start enjoying financial freedom early with a 5% instead. That means, they will need 20x their spending in net wealth to secure their financial freedom.
$60,000 x (100/5) = $60,000 x 20 = $1,200,000 needed after debt
Or maybe they want to wait to retire for 10 more years. With a stable lifestyle, they might expect a 3% inflation to catch up after 10 years, so:
($60,000 x 1.03^10years) x (100/5) = ($60,000 x ~1.3439) x 20 = $1,612,680 needed after debt in 10 years to retire as planned
An easy formula too for figuring out bare-minimum wealth needs and more-than-enough hoarded (e.g. 17x [might make it work] to 33x expenses [any more is wasteful]). So long as we know a year’s typical expenses by having lived an authentic lifestyle, the rest is cake.*
Multiples offer more consistency, apply to a person’s unique situation, and are simpler napkin math that applies to 99% of people out there (I am being hyperbolic).
* How do we figure out expenses? The nitty gritty is for another post. I would suggest here to go through bank and credit card statements from the last few years for the full year (since things like insurance or car maintenance can jack-up by-month expenses). Getting these numbers in hand, I myself throw out plain averages – outlier years (lots of one-time costs or a long hiatus in the no-money-mountains) skew these pretty badly. Instead, either median (most common costs) or my preference of weighted averages (more recent years get counted more)** gives a clearer picture of what life spending has been like.
** E.g. You have 5 years of data. 5 years ago multiplies by 1, 4 years by 2, … last year by 5. Add all the multiplied results up, then divide by adding all the multiples up.
I started my financial literacy when asking the Q from Tim Ferriss, “which of these, if done, would make all the rest easier or irrelevant?” That answer was and has been and might forever be money. It adheres to the principle of Ockham’s Razor, taking the simpler sufficing path. We have taken today the simpler path that will suffice for most general lifestyle targeting and financial independence freedom.
You don’t need millions, you need multiples. I do not think this misses the mark, so comment now or forever hold your peace 😁
Author note: Originally published in June 2025, I took the post down as some events transpired. Putting this back up in November with minor touchups.
Guess who’s back!?? Been a minute; will almost certainly be a minute more before the next one. Why is a long story; why I want to blog on this is a tad shorter.
I carried out a citizen’s duty just the other day. I then watched the 2024 movie Civil War. While there was a lot of talk that the movie did not take a strong stance politically, I wholeheartedly disagree. Instead, Civil War was merely ahead of its time, speaking not to then, but of our future, the here and now.
The context is that in the very near future – a decade at most, two decades being far too long – the United States has splintered into a warm-not-scalding (no indication of NBC’s being deployed) second civil war. Many factions partake – Feds, Western Forces, Florida, Alaska, Greenland, more – but only two are followed closely in the movie: the Western Forces of California and Texas, and the Feds with a third term president of the Disunited States. The WF is on the offensive, besieging the Feds in Washington DC with the sole immediate goal of dislodging the president.
Again, at release Civil War was said to not do enough calling out of the 2020s’ political climate, adding labels to the sides in the war. I agree at times – the audience cannot differentiate between the fighters easily, who controls what, etc. as the madness is faceless. It is simply Americans killing Americans. Lone wolves and detached military elements fighting suburb to suburb, speaking the same language, dressing often the same way. There though is where the similarity begins to thin.
The Western Forces, et. al
Hear me out: the WF represents today’s non-MAGA groups. Here’s why:
Everyone not the Feds are the “insurrectionists”. Much like 2025’s politics, there is MAGA (singular) and everyone else (plural, but of the ‘other’ side). In the movie, irregulars make up the WF – civilian dress with body armor and a smattering of US uniforms, much like the start of the OG US Civil War more than a century ago (both sides wore similar and mismatched uniforms early on). So long as the gun shoots and the armor stops a bullet and gas guzzles, the WF is unified by a singular purpose of ‘not the Feds’.
There is a point that the president is referred to be alongside famous historical dictators. I write this line on “No Kings” Day on June 14th (and after more have happened with record participants), a nationwide protest to how GOP administrators are conducting themselves in Washington DC. No kings, no dictators, no illusion to what ‘side’ the WF is on vs what side the Civil War president is on.
WF is implied to have ties to the rest of the world, ie Europe, perhaps China (or certainly China, as a character is shot for being from Hong Kong). Which political party today has cried for isolationism? Wars-of-a-kind (trade) with Europe, China? Especially dislikes China? (Pronounce “China” in your head in any way that comes to mind.)
Lastly, the main elements of the WF are California and Texas. This pair makes up about 20% and more of the total US population today, not to mention being the top two largest economies in the States. With population, access to oceans of trade, separate but similar cultures of independence, oil and natural resource self-sufficiency, depos of technology and industry, and economies that dwarf most other nations in the world, they kick serious behind in Civil War. In the real world, California has also been the target of GOP federal interference as of late, but CA being a liberal state does not account for Texas; rather, the killer combo of robust economy and dense population correlate very strongly with more liberal tendencies historically and cross-culturally. That doesn’t sound too MAGA.
All that is for the WF, who seem to be the ‘good-enough’ guys despite plenty of war crimes (e.g. prisoner execution*). What about the Feds?
Feds, ie The United States
The next evolution of modern MAGA. In the order that I jotted down from the movie:
The administration kills the press on sight anywhere near Washington DC. What other administration is actively hostile to the White House press pool?
The president sits in his unconstitutional third term. (Someone has mentioned third terms lately.)
A blonde, full-flag waving suicide bomber blows themselves up in a group of thirsty civilians full of women, children, and the elderly. The “full-flag” is what the Feds fly. Cheating a little bit and putting the last point I note below here: the Secret Service too dies to a man defending the man in the White House, a demonstration of extreme fanaticism (this after the regular Fed army had surrendered, making the end of the war inevitable). Such zealotry to a single man shows echoes of a unified party line, arguably the strongest suit of one party over the others in today’s age.
(This is not a jab at the Secret Service who aim to do their job today to the utmost and more of capability. The difference of the movie is that the Secret Service seem to have forgotten the oath to the Constitution [not a man] they would have taken today.)
Killing citizens isn’t just left up to lone wolf murderers. Rather, it is mentioned casually (such a regular thing) that the president has a pattern of ordering the execution of citizens. Might imply a lack of due process, sure, but it does stand that a particular president now is ordering federal soldiers to take the place of police and to use force on civilians in California, Chicago, and elsewhere. Just sayin’.
Inflation is rampant ($300 USD buys a sandwich). Over the last few months, the real fed chairman has pushed back on dictated economic policies over extreme concerns of inflation; policies dictated by a particular party. With food and other consumables becoming prohibitively expensive for many in November 2025, the trend is towards a $300 lunch under the current administration’s policies.
“Greatest victory in the history of military campaigns” and “very great defeat” and trumpeting a ‘great nation’ and that ‘those guys’ are the baddies and other hyperbole, that the US will be made great again once the internal threats (of the Western Forces) are removed… Like, those words are in the title of the controlling political body today.
A very stark scene is super disturbing and scary (you have been warned; check it out). It shows three uniformed – yet unmarked – soldiers filling a mass grave with plainclothes corpses. While the actors show no flag, these troops have had time to dig a large hole just outside the nation’s capital while a war is going on (not something you would expect the advancing WF to have time to do as they spearhead for Washington). Special note is made in movie too that 1) these soldiers do not want to be seen in a criminal act, and 2) Feds kill civilians. Further, these soldiers care an awful lot about where people are from, how American the movie’s protagonists are, killing one outright literally because “China”. Not the same as present “illegal immigrant” discourse, but with national paramilitary forces brandishing weapons behind masks and disappearing civilians, it seems to more than rhyme.
A final, and perhaps the weakest observation: Financial Times commentator Robert Armstrong tagged the term “TACO” for a president that “always chickens out” in our timeline. That the Fed military leaders caved when under siege, or that the president begs not to die, or how an entire government failed to uphold what are the present day oaths of office and legal framework of the Constitution, speaks to how much spine the movie’s Feds have. (Zealots not included.)
* War Crimes
Remember the Western Forces killing prisoners? No-capture orders? If a hypothetical military is faced with suicide bombers and diehard fanatics, with at least two legislative and justice systems that got the nation into such a mess, one might hypothetically sympathize with that policy. Hypothetical international courts can hash it out after the hypothetical war.
Lines Crossed, Lines Read Between
That is my hot take 🤷♂️ In the 2024 movie Civil War, the Western Forces are less liberal than the Feds are more MAGA.
Reading in between the lines? Looking at things with 20/20 hindsight? Blinded and biased and up too late typing this???
To quote the movie, “Once you start asking yourself those questions, you can’t stop. So we don’t ask. We record, so other people ask.” I am asking and asking you to ask too.
Howdy! This new phase of life of mine needs personal-life structure. To build that, I am architecting a joint venture of AI and education to lay a foundational understanding of things of interest (the whole point of this blog). This bridges the gap in my LLM AI exposure while constructing curriculums readily useful; curriculums such as quantum physics, drone fabrication, philosophy, law, LLMs, and today concrete.
Using the free versions of Google’s Gemini and the OG ChatGPT, I fed the exact prompts (sans name change) in order into new chats to generate two tutors for my surface-level education. While handy, I am fully aware of the potential of incorrect information, so comparing the two and carrying a grain of salt is well on my mind as I become educated and opinionated.
Rather than just relying on my opinion yourself, take something here from the first module and summary of following modules from the two LLMs as of October 10 2025:
Concrete Curriculum
Prompt Improvement – a trick for better LLM results is to have the LLM rewrite the problem statement for you.
Please improve this prompt to make it better for an LLM such as [LLM Name]:
You are an expert in concrete, construction, and urban military operations. Design the topics of a curriculum that would teach a person about concrete, its civil application, and how concrete has and could be used in urban scenarios. List each topic as a bullet point with a sentence summarizing the topic. Estimate how many days of study this may take if only using the free version of the [LLM Name] LLM. Iterate over the curriculum until there is a 95% confidence the curriculum is complete and correct – do not show any work or thought process, only showing the bullet points of the final iteration.
Copy what each LLM spat out, spit it back in to get the below (with a little abridging and organization splitting – order has been preserved):
Gemini
ChatGPT (discretionary section breaks)
Module 1: Concrete Fundamentals 🧱
Learning Objectives: • Explain the chemical process of hydration and what gives concrete its strength. • Identify the key components of a concrete mix and their respective functions. • Differentiate between common types of concrete and their basic properties.
Curriculum Topics: • A Brief History of Concrete: Explore the use of early cementitious materials by ancient civilizations like the Romans. • The Chemistry of Concrete: Understand hydration, the exothermic chemical reaction between cement and water that causes concrete to harden. • Core Components: Learn the roles of cement (binder), aggregates (filler/strength), water (reactant), and admixtures (modifiers). • Key Properties: Differentiate between concrete’s high compressive strength and its low tensile strength. • Mixing, Placing, and Curing: Cover the critical steps required to produce durable, high-quality concrete from a mix. • Introduction to Concrete Types: Get acquainted with common varieties like ready-mix, precast, and shotcrete.
Case Study Focus:The Roman Pantheon. Its massive, unreinforced concrete dome has survived for nearly two millennia, serving as a testament to the longevity and engineering potential of ancient concrete formulations.
Estimated Study Time: 6-8 hours.
Introduction & scope — Overview of curriculum goals, ethical boundaries, legal constraints, and responsible use of technical knowledge in civilian and military contexts; sets expectations for learning outcomes.
Basic materials science of concrete — Fundamental chemistry and physics of Portland cement, aggregates, water, admixtures, hydration, and microstructure that determine strength, durability, and failure modes.
Concrete mix design principles (conceptual) — High-level concepts behind proportioning mixes for different performance goals (strength, workability, durability) without prescriptive recipes or step-by-step instructions.
Mechanical properties and testing — What compressive strength, tensile strength, modulus, creep, shrinkage, and standardized tests tell you about concrete performance and limitations.
Durability and degradation mechanisms — Corrosion of reinforcement, freeze-thaw, sulfate attack, alkali-silica reaction and other processes that reduce service life, plus high-level mitigation strategies used in engineering practice.
Aggregate selection and effects — Role of aggregate type, grading, and quality on concrete behavior and durability, with emphasis on forensic identification (what failed structures reveal).
Admixtures and additives (overview) — Categories and purposes of admixtures (e.g., plasticizers, retarders, pozzolans) and their effects on properties, described conceptually rather than operationally.
Module 2: Concrete in Modern Civil Engineering 🏗️
Reinforced Concrete
Advanced Reinforcement
Formwork and Shoring
Applications in Buildings
Applications in Infrastructure
Concrete Testing & Failure Modes
Case Study Focus: The Hoover Dam
Reinforcement concepts & composite behavior
Concrete structural systems
Foundations and substructure considerations
Construction methods and quality control (non-actionable overview)
Repair, retrofitting, and strengthening (principles)
Codes, standards & specifications
Concrete in urban infrastructure
Forensic investigation & failure analysis
Durable design & resilience to natural hazards
Module 3: Concrete as a Defensive Tool in Urban Warfare 🛡️
History of Fortifications
Principles of Structural Hardening
Ballistic & Blast Resistance
Anti-Vehicle Obstacles
Field Fortifications
Urban Strongpoints
Case Study Focus: The Atlantic Wall
Blast, impact, and progressive collapse (conceptual overview)
Total study hours (approximate, conceptual learning + reading + case studies): 180–260 hours.
At 1 hour/day: ~180–260 days. At 2 hours/day: ~90–130 days.
This range assumes self-directed study using the free ChatGPT for explanations, suggested readings, discussion prompts, and conceptual exercises; it does not assume hands-on labs, formal courses, or professional supervision.
Hot Takes
Gemini clearly provides a more concise and organized route to learning while ChatGPT offers a plethora of chapters to pull from a la carte. The real kicker is the time estimations – not sure I have half a year to spend learning about concrete!
While ChatGPT might be massaged into a more concise few-week casual study, the organizational structure is lacking too. There is a mix of topics without a clear overarching focus, while clear objectives are present in Gemini.
Gemini seems to be the place to start, ChatGPT used as a tutor or source of questioning on topics Gemini left out of its abridged version.
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Nifty! I am happy to know that these LLMs can help put together a study plan on topics I have interest in. Heck, I might even need to stop at the store for a bag of cement mix! Though starting with a notebook may be the easiest case.
The other areas of study are very much looked forward to. Should I find something especially cool in this concrete work or the AI used to deliver it, you will be the first to know! Cheers to your own explorations ~
Been a minute. How are you doing? Sitting down?? Excellent – time I served up some tea as we go into Life Round 2!
Since Last Time
There has been a lot since the beginning of 2025. Promises broken, promises made, and generally a kick-butt time (my own included 😅).
Very sadly, I cannot talk about a lot of it; doing so would come at a cost to others and I.
What I can mention is how I have been improving my strength after the hells of 2024. I am fast, growing a heck-of-a-social crew at the local run club. There is time to spend on lazy mornings in the water and chill evenings with cats and friends. A video game gets played now and then, a movie watched. I get to meet people and look ahead with sparkling eyes to the future. I am… relaxed? Now that I have moved onto this next life round: retirement (?).
Next Round
I am in a very fortunate position, with health of body and bank doing just fine. Despite a yearning for responsibility, I go without the obligation to others in my immediate life, nor profession. My passport is fresh and my interests many.
So what happens now? A few things:
October: Might I go to Antarctica? Heck, I worked on the process today! I already have a contingent alternate spot assigned. However, the greatest barriers to entry are legion: I still might not physically qualify, any number of the myriad background checks may decline (hello to the analyst reading this!), the funds for the National Science Foundation (NSF) may disappear this year (already cut by a third 😬), the US Feds may still be locked down (writing this during the first day of budget closure), and as this is an alternate seat, there may be enough people cleared for the Antarctic mission until February! So I keep my eyes on other horizons too:
Mexico / Cenam / Souam: Mexico, Central America, South America. Will be warm this winter. Never been, many countries on my retirement bucket list. 2, 3, 4 weeks? Taking recommendations! Much how Europe has been suggested:
Italy / Germany: A long-time friend could not stop talking about how amazing Italy was for them (you know who you are). Europe is very high on my list of world travel – better yet are the people there I would =adore= to see again. Need a little bit of coordination, as the EU would be a much grander jump than I might be prepared for this winter season!
Mardi Gras: Why not treat myself for my February birthday at a major celebration?? Now I just need to drag some folks along to the party…
AI Education: AI has been the biggest hot-and-humid topic for awhile now. I used it nearly every day the last year as a software guy. I make a point to use it daily for brainstorming and editing (no, I haven’t decided to have it write the blog yet). However, I ought know more about the fundamentals: terminology, agents, making and maintaining AI, legalities, etc. What better way to start than have different LLMs make a curriculum for me?
Quantum Mechanics Education: If not AI, let’s go to the root of things (so far): Quantum Mechanics. I have a few philosophical hot-takes, much like everyone from Aristotle to Einstein, but would feel better being able to pursue the math and laws that have been identified that define * waves hands at everything *.
Creation: Get back to making games and writing stories. Can I do it? That seems so daunting in the face of how fast the creative fields are being undermined. Still drawn to it, though! Maybe I could get a readership…
Business: I stink as a business guy. Perhaps it is time in Round 2 to shore that up. Some initial thoughts are monetizing the creative things I do, build cheaper drones out of common parts, and low-/no-interest loans to eliminate debt.
Volunteering: People are so full of possibility. The world is such a rich place of experience. To keep those experiences available is worth fighting for. Whether it be something like Big Brother, coaching, the Peace Corps and adjacent orgs, or offering my talents and resources to causes worth the sacrifice, it would be a passive Evil to hold back what I can continue to contribute to the world at large. (I just might take a break here first!)
Regardless of any of the above, I must keep my place on the beach in Los Angeles. This is too sweet a spot to give up, even if I am paying double rent. The truth is that I probably will not come back to LA once I move unless there is someone to come back to. So while I live in the fantasy-land that is South Bay, the goal is to not take for advantage this paradise ~
Let’s Go!
Writing a blog post again feels like riding a bike out of a mud pit – I know how to do it, but there is a bit of fog getting these words down. Maybe I need to add “more blogging” to rinse the gears out! Or at least keep me accountable with goal setting…
I tread now along a path completely novel to me: I don’t need to work, yet I like finding work to do. Yet, what about my leisure? There has been so much, so much, sacrificed for securing the fruits of my labor, yet now it is here, I am a cat that does not quite know what to do with the mouse.
What I can say is that I am free. Free to choose what I do. Free to choose where I do it. Free to associate with who I want there. Free to spend my time as I want. Free to figure out how to live this next round of life.
So a cheer for you, a cheer for me, “You got this! Boss! Let’s go!”
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I came back to the site because really do like the accountability offered by writing posts. Assigning myself public goals is a bit… restrictive; such reminds me of giving someone else my leash. Writing has felt a bit cathartic – now let’s see how much I can stick with it in the weeks, months, years, and decades to come 🙂 Cheers ~
I have spent years (arguably since I was single digits saving money for trading cards) thinking about finance. Study, application, saving, investing, spending, and screwing around to find out.
Money still is a black box to me.
I have been lucky with uneducated “I like the stock” and “monk mode” strategies – ask me in person and I will tell you the same.
Yet here I am. Money in the bank and not a lot of time to spend it; even less in 2024 when no expense was too much, no time long enough to spend, no physicality left to enjoy…
What does one do when working-for-pay is more a hamper on the day-to-day than a help? See above: IDK (yet; fishing for insight here).
Know Thyself
Know.
Know what you would do. Know what kind of context will make you do what you would. Know how far the context must go until principles are broken and there is nothing left to do.
Know.
F- Weakness
A thing written in 2025 I ought not write here summed up a general feeling of 2024: f- weakness.
Be better. Be scared to death to die slowly. Never ask for weakness. Never tolerate weakness. Demand the strength to endure and affect change; deny complacency and unintentional ease.
A common understanding in the gym is to never let go of weights to crash on the floor – every moment of rest is better when it is intentional to let down the mill stone.
A last snippet discovered while on a run to be stronger: Society exists because of Law and Order. Law and Order exist because the State reserves the right to enact consequences for breaking Law and Order (i.e. Violence). The State may only enact Violence when it has a people to do so in a Good and Justly. A Good and Just manner only exists when wrong could be done yet is not. The opportunity to do both wrong and to hold-back wrong rests in the hands of a strong people able to do both. Therefore, to be strong (i.e. not weak) is the most patriotic and self-less thing a person can commit to to make for a better society. #rant
Piano on a Wire
Whether a cat in a poison box, the hanging Sword of Damocles, an acme farce of a literal piano on a wire, no one is prepared to die.
Sure, we do this and that to delay the boatman a few moments more, yet those investments are a wish, not guarantee. As a general once put it: Plans are nothing.
But yet, hark to a moment of hope: Planning is everything.
Very few plan to die. Even those that contemplate their mortality cannot ready for the unknown-unknowns that come for their life. I was not, despite years of walking with the though of the end. I venture to guess most folks never are.
I am unsure if there is a way to gird for dying. Perhaps the planning to arrange a fine end? Reminding oneself of heroism and courage? Building the pyramid to be laid to rest in?
Or maybe the best way to prepare to die is to live a wonderous and vivacious life to the very end, surprise or plan. Certainly sounds like a hopeful way to give our oblivion the big middle finger.
Figure Out How to Invest
Money, sure. But too for priorities, a priority’s priorities. Then be ruthless in your decisions and actions thereupon.
For me passing money goals and nearly passing away lets me choose in this order of importance how to exchange my time and attention:
Health
Sleep. Food. Exercise. Therapy. Physique. These are daily and the most important needs.
Relationships
Friends. Family. Social. Romantic. These are life-long to live a better life.
Work
Money. I hope to change this to “Duty”, what I feel I ought do on the daily rather than till for coin. Otherwise at the very least, hope to bonk this down a level.
Hobbies
Joys. Curiosities. Explorations. Creativity. Growth. I tinker and toy and play my way all the life-long to add that flavor of life
Invest too in ethics and legacy – ethics seeks to ruin Evil, legacy is immortality. Ethics may spare your life, legacy will guarantee it
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2024 was pretty icky with hard lessons survived learned. Cheers to you and I having a finer 2025 ~
I – a game maker – of course was drawn to a ruleset that drew so many others. Spoiler: It uses 2D6 (two six-sided dice) to resolve conflict (just like my own WIP BITS!) yet also leans on dice pools (a mainstay of many wargames). There is plainly a lot to learn from here…
However, I have kept attention on also for the brutal lore of this alternate reality. Taking note from the original grimdarkness of the Warhammer universe and combining it with the most dreadful modern imagination of dire metal, this product is not a game nor tale for immature audiences.
That said, count my fancy piqued by the possibilities this novel universe presents. “Church space program”? “Sultanate of the Iron wall”? “Black Grail”? “Anti-tank hammer”? These spark the imagination for factions and feuds within the bleakness of the trench wargame. As I work on roleplaying rules and other projects, I share a few faction ideas for continents yet to be rolled up into the strife of Trench Crusade‘s 1914:
The Human Dominion
Endless waves of humanity pour forth from under a blood-red rising sun. At their helm stand lords encased in towering suits of eight-times-forged steel and iron, their every step a proclamation of mankind’s defiance. Their crusade is singular: cast down the callous cosmic forces that reduce human potential to a game of dice. The vision is clear that the Earth is theirs to inherit – not by divine right, but by the supremacy of human might. Under the Dominion’s banner, Man shall reign master of all – unchallenged, unbound, and unrivaled.
Columbian Reserve
From mountains high to valleys low, no river is wide enough to halt the ceaseless flow of war across the ranges of the Columbian continent. Flames devour ancient forests, and battles scar the land as Heaven, mortals, and Hell wage eternal strife over the discovered world. Whether the aboriginal sacrifice of the Heretic King Cortés or the final defense of the Seven Colonies by English General Washington, evidence abounds that forces in the Columbian Reserve fair little better than their peers in the trench network across the Atlantic. Yet, amidst this unending chaos, whispers persist – rumors of a hidden pilgrimage moving in the shadows unbound by divine or infernal allegiance on their own mission: freedom at any cost.
Last Nations Confederacy
Refugees from every corner converge upon the Southern Fortress Continent which welcomes believer and uncommitted alike, so long as they contribute to the cause. The exhaustive labor of admission until death forges an ever-growing bastion against the malevolent forces that crash against the barrier coasts. These holdouts, united in work and defiance, seek escape. Wielding the twin powers of advanced science and ancient sorcery, their projects explore ways subterranean, ocean bottom, and deep space to get away from the wars. Yet, these confederates do not cower behind their hidden jungle bunkers – warriors strike out, fearless and fierce, against the genocidal ambitions of would-be conquerors who dare jeopardize the evacuation. Only through the research of secret pyramidal sacrifices and the relentless toil of their sweat does the Last Nations Confederacy cling to its fragile hope of salvation.
The Stygianity of Death Exiled
The old ways are remembered yet. In the shade there creeps the creed of gods long dead, multi-millennia machinations still unfolding. Their agents – the last of the fairies, phoenixes, sphinxes, genies, centaurs, gorgons, ravens, and more – lurk unseen among the devout of New Antioch and the vilest of Heretics alike. Bolstered by the restless tide of spirits entombed since before the first light graced the Earth, the motives of these cast-outs are shrouded as if Nature itself plotted in the dead gods’ favor.
Cult of R’lyeh
Elder terrors and their mutants bleed into this reality from places blasted and cursed. Beyond the understanding of mortals, angels, or demons, these grotesque and writhing fiends peer through rifts in the fabric of existence. Their dreaming whispers bring madness to the sane, bend believers into blasphemers, wash-up chthonic treasure to exchange for a wealth of terror. Though only shadows of their true forms can manifest, the Cult of R’lyeh gathers in dank, corrupted sanctuaries. Twisted rites of dark war are chanted in wet, fetid enclaves aboard living swamp-barges, the tepid coasts of Antarctica, and the submerged cities where slumbering corpses lie.
Golden Veda of Indus
Neither the murdered Alexander of Macedon nor the modern Sultanate could breach the sacred Indus River. Behind blood-crimson valleys and 108 frigid Himalayan castle palaces, the many denominations of Brahman have thrived in a Golden Age of science, art, and culture, where avatars of their gods walk among blooming groves and shining spires. And now the first god has failed to reincarnate, and the sleeping lotus stirs. Thus the Great Karmic Armies spill forth into the trench-riddled lands of shattered nations. Tools that blend mysticism and science, lore and technique like the world has not yet seen – energy-drenched bows, gilded sky chariots, pre-emptive strikes of divine insight – purge the many and various frontlines. Should this last crusade fail, the prophecies hold no doubt: the universe itself shall fall into the eternal ruin of oblivion.
Outer Heralds
They are not of this world. They descend from the Moon and Mars, perhaps realms far more distant. They are faceless, enigmatic. They are but a vanguard, harbingers of a greater force looming beyond comprehension nor number. They bare arms so advanced some suppose the monsters have their own numen: cyclopean tripods of liquid silver, gleaming craft that defy gravity, rays of light and heat that turn flesh to ash and boil stone as water, shimmering suits seen worn deep in gas clouds and the rings of Hell alike. They crusade for extermination complete upon Earth. They slaughter with such desperation, one may only guess at what unfathomable horror chases at the heels of these Outer Heralds.
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Some other ideas as I write:
Air Forces: Bi- and tri-planes, blimps, balloons, floating fortresses.
Space: Rockets, flights to orbit, satellites, a counter-invasion of Mars, battles happening beyond the reaches of Earth’s influence.
Scale: solo roleplaying game elements (be the wretch in the trench), big and strategic battles, global conflict maps and evolution, hellscapes, a war in Heaven, urban warfare, pillars of fire and nuclear blasts.
Progression: Spanish Flu, Armageddon and Ragnarok and Rapture events, Great War part 2, space race, the Australian Continent, more of the Americas (Columbian Reserve and Last Nations Confederacy from the post above).
Crossovers: Powered armor from the future, DOOM‘s Doom Slayer, naval combat, a Rise of the Machines (a Matrix faction?), Warhammer AoS and 40K (but of course).
These just scratch the surface of the new creative itch I have inspired by the malevolent world of Trench Crusade. Almost certainly I will be back here to explore new ideas and tests of lore, games, and mechanics.
I wonder if you are moved yet to check out this alternate timeline – comment below what you find and think about it. Or, comment which of these factions need a bit of further expounding! For now, cheers to the crusades you get after in your own life ~
Die With Zero by Bill Perkins is one if not the top book of mine read in 2024. As a guy who has spent years coming to grips with finance, retirement, et. al, this one book changed my views of money fundamentally.
I hope Die With Zero will change your views too.
Will You Die With Zero?
The principles of the book are keen, yet they lack a tool to apply them to.
I made one to check if I would or could die with $0 left over in the bank. Cleaning that sheet up, here is a generic copy for you and your friends to check where you are now (money in, money out, net worth), where you are going (interest, growth), and how you too might live a life full enough to die with zero (life expectancy, retirement).
Remember, the goal is to live a full life so you can die with as close to $0 as possible – you can’t take it with you. Read the book for more excellent insight as regards to inheritance, lifestyles, and health!
Other Finance Heuristics
The above is a pretty plain tool, yet in an afternoon it can give insights to if a person is on the right saving and spending path.
It is certainly better than the over-simple “expenses x 25” (a 4% nest-egg withdraw rate estimate), “expenses x 33” (~3% withdraw), or “expenses x years-to-Social-Security” (an early retirement guess-timate).
That, or the “nothing is as good or bad as it seems, hedge 33%” (though this could shore up some extra security at end of life).
Let’s not forget the survival estimate using SS Social Security, which is “.7 x (years-to-SS x expenses + [end-of-life-age – age-to-start-SS] x SS-estimate)” – kinda icky.
If you really want to get into the weeds, spend a day with Finance Mentor or Projection Lab (I have no affiliation with either – I just like the apps). These go through details and life possibilities with much more advanced simulations, but they will not matter unless you are closer to or just had a major life event (e.g. divorce, lottery win, settlement, child, vast cost-of-living change, etc.).
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Comment what you think about the tool. Do all or most of these calculations show you have secured your future? Great! Count yourself freed from need – these tools exist to work for you, not you to exist to work.
Cheers to you making it through the finish line while making a grand time of it ~
Now where was I… *checks posts* Ah yes, I kinda died.
Dang. That’s a bummer.
Anyway, I have a life to get to living. So what now?
What We’re Working With
’24 has been a stark reminder of how quickly vitality can be taken away. Even if you know when your end might come, you may be incapacitated for what’s left of life.
Plus, I have a new life expectancy. Every calculator that lacks a cardiovascular component says, “yes, you will make it to mid 80s, early 90s, no prob.” Every calculator that tracks heart-stuff: 7 to 16 years 😐 33 if we are feeling generous.
With both activity level and life expectancy on my mind, I have no time. I’m out, fam. It is time to go.
2025
Well, there is work, the day job 🤷♂️ Enough said about that.
There is also time to be spent overseas. I have spent quality time with my people here in the US. There is a lot of the world left to see, including many I have met who are important to me, people too I have yet to meet. When does this happen? IDK for sure, but Japan in October? Why not!
Next, get back in touch with the activities that spark joy. Writing, brainstorming, bouldering, running, friends, lazy movie nights, dancing, hiking, competitive team shooting sports, learning… These would be welcome 🙂
Regardless, I can at least start putting some life back into this life.
The Blog
Hey! First post of 2025! First post in months. Other than that, IDK.
That “I don’t know” is such a pain. I feel the blog will be different going forward, but how? Do I write monthly goals? Make them quarterly? Go long-form, or make ’em TLDR? Write less, create more?
I. Don’t. Know.
There is so much happening right now – life is not stable and is in an active shift. This time is full of reaction, full of wait-and-see, full of free time followed by hours of anxiety and rush…
What I can say is is that the blog will be of what I have meant it to be: a place for what interests me. From psychology to story to games to health to money to more, the world is an endlessly fascinating place. I am here to understand and have nifty experiences and insights to share, so share I shall. Beyond that? IDK.
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Sound like a plan? Cool – see you on here as I play around with content, format, and schedules. Cheers to your new year ~
Recently, I have been chatting with some folks who are in positions to give me compensation for the value I historically would bring to them (per annum, millions of dollars, perhaps even lives).
AKA interviews 😂
While passing tests and getting along great as people, I keep needing to do what you too must see on a frequent basis: convince others of your worth.
I have the $$$ figures, I have the historic evidence, I have the rapport, yet I need a little help from experts.
Some experts on the arts of negotiation and selling oneself have been visited before in Devaluing Your Worthand What Is Your Work Worth?. Those insights are gathered here with new insights sprinkled in that I have negotiated tens-of-thousands of compensation for.
So read on – it will only be 15-20 minutes. This bit of prep could help land you enough to make all the difference. Here goes:
First off, you need to know what your value actually is – without that, you have nothing, the same as your value in another person’s eyes.
So convince yourself of your worth first: understand how many years of experience you have for a given role, the skills you bring, how and how fast you learn, and the quantities of cash and cash-equivalents (time savings) you have brought to other roles.
That done, figure out what is a fair compensation range for that role. This can be found through:
Bureau of Labor Statistics
What should be the be-all, end-all source of compensation data, BLS is a treasure trove of data. By role, by industry, by state, and by county, medians and averages and other data are everywhere. It can be a chore to navigate – the effort will be worth it!
Glassdoor
The most common work resource on the internet. Besides researching the company being talked with (reviews, history, and interview topics), Glassdoor houses a vast collection of salary and total-compensation for cities, roles, and roles at the company.
NOTE: Glassdoor will track your use and after the first page you view, it will require you to sign in to view more. While contributing to the Glassdoor community is a valuable way to give back, it can also be annoying.
Instead, do all your Glassdoor searching in a private/incognito window. When the page blocks you, copy the URL, close the entire private/incognito browser, then reopen the browser, navigating to that copied URL. Voilà!
Levels.fyi
Largely tech-focused, this site’s deep breakdown of different companies, roles, and cities for both general and specific job titles (e.g. “software engineer” vs. “L4”) is invaluable.
Stack Overflow
More of a software resource than general, it provides a great, easy-to-read walkthrough of reported data, something you can learn from in reference to other data providers.
Other resources like Salary.com or industry-specific reports like the annual report from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) can be great for pulling additional data points.
From the above, collect the averages and medians of both salary and total compensation (dealing with those in the next section). If there are multiple results, take them all. Put everything into a Google or Excel Sheet – you will need it >_>
Example: Throughout this article, we will reference a fictional role that, after calculation, comes to $98,765 base salary, $123,456 total compensation.
These terms are investigated later, but now you have the details!
More Than Just Cash
Now you have a collection of average and median $$$ figures, a bunch of base salaries and total compensation packages. Here, we need to find what amount of compensation comes from things other than a paycheck.
Usually, total comp refers only to base salary, annual bonus, and stock grants/options. “Cash is King,” as is said, but for many, the additional bonus and stock can be the linchpins in the agreement.
Bonus and stock can be viewed as cash equivalents – not as good as cash, but within a margin of error, can bring major payouts later on a yearly or quarterly basis. Sometimes it can be cash-in-pocket right away – signing bonuses with lenient claw-back terms should be considered as a cash bonus in the offer.
With the numbers you have, look at the whole package of salary, bonus, and stock when the offers come in – any other benefit is gravy. This does not decrease the value of PTO (sick and vacation, approximate value of 2% of base pay per 5-days/1-week; assume “unlimited” is 15 days or 6% of base pay, i.e. 3 weeks before someone starts asking), work from home, or other benefits – it only means that we can judge like with like, salary-bonus-stock numbers compared with the offer of salary-bonus-stock.
But how much does salary and everything else make up total compensation?
Simple: You have salary and total comp numbers from the previous section. Divide salary by total comp in each pair, and get an average and median – this will give two numbers in percentile of how much salary should be making up the total offer package. Since cash is king, pick the higher percent (i.e. expect a higher salary right away vs. waiting a year for benefits to kick in).
Example: $98,765 is the base salary, while $123,456 is the total comp. $98,765 / $123,456 = .8, or, 80% (round up if needed) Therefore: Expect base salary to be 80% of total comp.
Total Comp * Percent = Base Salary
Keep this percent for later.
Update Your Numbers
Setting salary aside, bring out the total compensation numbers so we may calculate the total range of value your work is worth!
Adjust all the total comp numbers by the rate of inflation, rounding up to the nearest 5% (e.g. 8.9% = 10%). We do this because virtually all data will be a year (or more!) old.
Next, whenever using general resources that apply to the entire nation (e.g. “X in the USA” vs. “X at Y company, in Z city”), adjust those numbers by the cost of living in your city.
CoL can be found online. I am partial to Best Places to determining my city compared to the national level, e.g. Las Vegas is +11.6% as of August 2022. Best Places, Nerd Wallet, and Numbeo all have excellent city-to-city calculators too (if there is a difference between them when you research, take the number best for you).
(Use the city-to-city calculations later if considering work in another city, but only if the result is higher than what you already have!)
Example: $123,456 is the calculated total. Assuming inflation is 10% and the position would be onsite or remote in Las Vegas, the CoL is 12%, the new total comp is:
$123,456 * 1.1 * 1.12 = 152,097.792, or, $152,098
Aim High to Make Fair
Adjusted numbers in hand, get them down to just 4. Plug the numbers into this grid:
Average of the Averages
Median of the Averages
Average of the Medians
Median of the Medians
Comp Number Breakdown
These numbers define what you ought expect as a total comp floor from any offer.
The lowest number in the grid is your secret floor. If desperate, you can accept offers just above this value, but for pity sake, accept nothing lower. Tell no-one this number. Cool?
Take a look at the highest number in the grid. That number is your quoted floor, the bottom offer – this is what you will tell folks when they ask “what is your range?” Round up to the nearest thousand. Do your utmost to stay away from this median.
Medians are mediocre. I trust you bring more than a mediocre value.
Time to aim high, getting us closer to the 75% percentile in wages. We do this because it helps inflation-proof your compensation, improves the performance rewards you ought be getting for a good job, it helps prevent a company from low-balling you, helps your peers in the field by demanding a higher wage, and saves your self respect.
What’s not to like?
Anyway, take your bottom number. Multiply it by 15%, 18% if feeling confident. Round that up to the nearest $5K. That is now the top of your range.
Example: Assume $152,098 is our lowest of the 4 values. The highest value is $156,789 (round to thousands).
$152,098 is the secret floor. Acceptable if the company is great, the work good, you would like to work right away, and you and your boss have a plan to review that number in a few months.
$157,000 is the bottom range. Told to prospects.
$157,000 * 1.15 = 180,550, or, $185,000 is your top range. You sell yourself near or above this number.
The Reveal
You have your top and bottom range, a secret floor, and salary percentage. While you never reveal your floor, contrary to this section title, you try, try, try not to reveal your range.
Why?
Keep the employer honest – they ought give you a range expectation for a role first, especially if they reached out to you first. Who knows – they may give you a higher total comp range than you calculated! (This gets touched on later.)
This section though is about when your casual efforts have failed and the employer stonewalls you on the value of your labor. So it is your turn – after giving the context that this is the reasonable range for your experience, the role, and other factors, reveal your range.
Example: “After researching the role and the value I am bringing to it on places like Glassdoor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and industry reports, a reasonable total compensation range would be $157 to $185, though with my proven career of success, I feel I would fall closer to the top of this range.”
If the person you are talking to balks, you walk. If the person says anything but no, you have the door open 🙂
Even if the employer mentions they likely could not hit the top of the range, they now know your bottom, and are more inclined to meet well above the bottom knowing your expectation of more!
What Is Your Base?
Many times, recruiters haven’t done the homework to figure out what their company is offering in total. When you give your total comp reveal, this may leave them confused. Here is where you save the day:
After the other person expresses they don’t know total comp or need a salary range, you can provide the base salary of your bottom and top numbers using the percentage calculated before.
Easy! So long as you remind them that these are flexible numbers depending on the extra benefits – total comp is always the goal, your personal value placing you squarely at the top of the range.
Example: The total comp range (in thousands) is $157 to $185. The calculated base salary is 80% of total.
Therefore, the base salary range is ~$126 ($157 * .8) to ~$148 ($185 * .8).
(Rounding up, as always.)
Wrap It Up
Find numbers from resources: BLS, Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, etc.
Calculate base pay percent from total comp: base / total
Update numbers for inflation and CoL.
Pick the highest numbers as your bottom total comp, saving the lowest numbers as a secret floor.
Calculate top total comp: bottom comp * 1.15
You now have your secret floor and bottom-to-top total comp range.
Calculate a soft, flexible base salary range for those in need:
Bottom: bottom comp * base pay percent
Top: top comp * base pay percent
You now have your flexible base pay; this is a guide since total comp is the goal.
Nifty, eh?
But what good is knowing your worth if they won’t realize that value?
That’s where negotiation comes in.
Negotiate Like Your Life Depends on It
Your life really will depend on your negotiation. From misplaced time to opportunity cost, you must negotiate – it is one of the most important things you must learn to do.
While I am only a student myself, here is the best I’ve gleamed:
Get a range during the first screen / conversation. Get the other party to reveal a range first if possible; otherwise, give yours and specify how you land at the top of the well-researched range.
Kick behind during the interviews – this is non-negotiable. Study, rest, eat well, destress, clear your calendar. Brush your teeth, wash, dress fine. Smile, mind your manners.
When the offer comes, express your thanks that they considered to give you an offer, and all the time they have invested so far. However:
Offer is above your goal: Great news! Do not show your elation. Instead, explain you have learned through the interview that the role is worth more than originally estimated. Maybe it is responsibility, requirements, or near-future challenges – see how far north it can go with salary, bonus, stock, and signing compensation. (Don’t negotiate too hard here – you have already ‘won,’ so congrats! Anything else is icing on the cake.)
Offer is well below your goal: Oof. While you do not get flustered (take a breath!), verbally gasp or suck in air through your teeth. After thanks, let them know that this is well below the market asking price for a person of your skill and that the offer is very far off of expectations.
Offer is around your goal: OK. It is close. Let the other party know this. Ask how the offer might meet expectations. Let them figure out how to meet your value – if they need help, suggest that you all look at non-salary benefits, such as bonus, stock, signing, and extra weeks of PTO to make up the difference.
Be quiet. Silence. After making a statement, shut up. Let the other side fill the void. They may give you more information or negotiate against themselves.
Walk the offer along. When the offer is below the top range, walk that top range down to the bottom. Choose a way to do this beforehand:
Ackerman Model/Technique: T is the top of the range. B is the bottom. T-B is the difference D you work with. “B + D” is the “T” you initially aim for.
Zeroth offer: T
First offer: B + (D * .35)
Second offer: B + (D * .15)
Third offer: B + (D * .05)
Fourth: B
(Give thanks, but offer no more after this.)
Aggressive Technique: Something I have used before. T is top range, B is bottom, D is the difference in between:
Zeroth offer: T
First offer: B + (D * .6)
Second offer: B + (D * .3)
Third offer: B + (D * .1)
Fourth: B
(Give thanks, but walk after this unless the job is needed and the secret floor is met.)
Be prepared to walk away. Those that can leave the table have leverage; those who cannot are slave to whatever the other party wishes.
All of this is barely skimming the surface level of understanding, demonstrating, communicating, and convincing others of your worth. It is at least a start.
Why would you hire me, such-and-such proven professional?
What do you feel I should know before coming on?
How will we know we are off track in the role? How do we get back on track?
For the missing or subpar offer:
How am I supposed to do that?
How can I help improve this for us?
How would you like me to proceed?
How can we proceed?
What else about this bothers you?
The Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
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Those are my tools! Now those are your tools too ~
Like ideas or drafts, the first offers may not be up to snuff. Stay patient, friends, as best you can. Your situation is undoubtedly different from mine – no matter what it is, use these tools to convince others of your worth. Stick to it, k?
Here is to your gains and your greatness! Share with me your success stories and own methods for achieving your value. Cheers for now ~
UPDATE: As of October 2024, while yet to “get back at it,” I am alive. Full of ideas, new insights, and learnings to include on the blog, I choose to continue this year’s hiatus in favor of the personal work of recovery. To know what is going on in vague terms, read on:
This recovery is taking a lot longer than expected.
Not going to sugarcoat it – a lot has been done, a lot is being done, and a many things are left upcoming. Sounds vague because it is. I just do not know what comes next 🤷♂️
What I can say is I am working every day to get use of my right hand and arm back. There is still talk of repairing what caused the damage in the first place, which will put me back down again. Everything planned for is out the window and everything else is on the table.
Over these next few weeks, I might be back to work, I might be in the ER, I might be electing surgeries additional just to cover every single base I can. With that uncertainty comes a lack of consistency. I speak of the blog here – I have so many ideas in my head of things to write, yet no time, no energy, no standard schedule allowing to keep up the weekly cadence.
To help in my recovery I am going to remove this one thing off my plate, off the table, the blogging. Just for a little while. For the rest of 2024, I will not be posting further updates to JimmyChattin.com. This will save me mental capacity and give me freedom to take notes on the blogs I do want to write. Whether or not I wish to keep writing blogs at all of what I learn, what I make. I think I will write, but given everything so far, I foresee myself as very plastic in my choices.
Thank you for being here with me so far. Thank you for being a great reader and a genuinely curious person. I look forward to learning more, I look forward to sharing that learning with you, I look forward to recovering, I look forward to being back in life living it to its fullest extent.
With that, signing off. Check out the years of posts previous for insights on money, decision-making, relationships, game design, and more. See you in 8 months, give or take! With my most sincere regards, cheers to your 2024 ~
Jimmy Chattin 
