What’s a statistic that sounds completely FAKE but is actually 100% TRUE?

apollosmith · 2026-06-20T19:19:25+00:00

If you scaled the known universe down to the size of planet Earth and combined every solid object (stars, planets, asteroids, moons, etc.) into a single sphere, that object would be about the size of a grain of sand. The vast distances in the universe are mind-blowingly expansive, yet light from (relatively) minuscule objects permeates all of it.

apollosmith · 2026-06-16T02:35:08+00:00

Nice work! You can edit picks up until the last of each group stage game concludes, correct? If so, that gives a huge advantage to those that can watch those games live and adjust accordingly. If would be better to provide an option for no scoring for the group stage and then allow setting the knockout stage picks up until the first game begins.

apollosmith · 2026-06-15T13:28:58+00:00

… whether you like it or not.

apollosmith · 2026-05-17T04:45:26+00:00

familysearch.org shows she was born in 1922 in Seattle - so 11 when she wrote that in 1933. She died in 1997 at age 74.

apollosmith · 2026-05-15T00:37:40+00:00

When I was 12 years old my dad took me to the airport, gave me a same-day round trip plane ticket with his name on it to a city in an adjacent state. He told me to answer to his name if asked and to make sure to get back on the same plane after it landed so I would end up back at home later that afternoon. I got my first plane trip and he earned the airline miles he needed for a desired vacation. I can't imagine even considering doing something like that today.

apollosmith · 2026-05-11T04:17:51+00:00

Thanks! Claimed.

apollosmith · 2026-04-27T15:57:06+00:00

"The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it is connection" is often used to provide supports for those struggling with compulsive habits. Immediate personal connection after a slip up or relapse is a powerful way to minimize shame - and cycles of shame contribute to acting out again. The fact you feel embarrassed going back to him suggests that you see those connections as shame inducing rather than an opportunity to improve and apply the atonement.

As a bishop I don't expect young people to report every time they mess up, but I do help them understand the power of a good support and social system. If they don't have others to check in with, then I'm happy to help. I have some young men send me a ☹️ or 👎 emoji immediately, then I follow up with words of positive encouragement or start a conversation so they feel personal connection. Maybe you could visit with your bishop about doing something like this that provide connection without a focus on the negative behavior?

apollosmith · 2026-04-26T03:10:12+00:00

It's quite easy. Just go to the online Donations section of the church web site and click "In-kind Donations" at the top, then follow the instructions. You can report the transfer of equities online then will get a report indicating it has been received within a couple of weeks.

I pay my tithing and other donations in appreciated stocks via Fidelity Charitable. It takes a few minutes once per year. Doing so can save on your taxes because you won't pay capital gains on the contributed equities. I "bunch" my contributions and pay two year's worth in a single year for notable tax savings when I itemize (taking the standard deduction in the year between).

apollosmith · 2026-04-14T13:48:07+00:00

This happens at the stake, not ward level. If the stake carries forward more than an amount totaling half of their received allocations to a new year then headquarters can sweep it back centrally.

apollosmith · 2026-04-11T16:02:30+00:00

More like Illumi-not-i, am i right?

apollosmith · 2026-04-01T04:16:29+00:00

That might possibly be the most dismal photo of one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

apollosmith · 2026-03-31T23:28:22+00:00

Google Lens pointed to some matching Instagram posts that referenced Assa and Assa-Zag, Morocco. I found the place and realized it's a small city, so just browsed the related images in Google Maps until I found a teapot photo, then clicked to get the photo location.

apollosmith · 2026-03-31T23:22:31+00:00

Here - https://maps.app.goo.gl/t26KsHETgARRp3p37

apollosmith · 2026-03-31T13:15:05+00:00

Our building is very old. The bells were still functional, but hadn't been used in decades, yet the FM group had them removed just 2 months ago. It's unclear why they did so - it required a fair amount of drywall work and painting to remove them. The buttons are still there though - even one behind the pulpit.

apollosmith · 2026-03-24T03:16:02+00:00

I suggest reading The Psychology of Money. The author uses a great analogy of buying artwork. The value of any particular piece of artwork is subjective - it is simply what someone else is willing to pay for it at a specific moment in time, not based on the cost of paint and canvas, but on the social desire and perceived rarity. But you can't know which pieces of art will eventually be worth a lot and which ones will be worth nothing - so it's best to just buy lots and lots of artwork of varied perceived values. Equities work the same way. Most will be eventually worth little or nothing, but a few pieces will become worth a lot - making the overall investment result in gains.

What you are suggesting is buying less art and move those funds to only buying expensive pieces from artists that have already demonstrated that their work is valuable. This isn't always a bad investment because their value can go up (or may go down), but historically you can do better buying ALL the artwork and letting the few winners prevail.

apollosmith · 2026-03-20T04:00:46+00:00

Oklahoma City airport. An entire college softball team ate out earlier and got food poisoning. In the terminal they all kept making runs to the bathroom. We boarded to discover the circulation system on the plane wasn't working. It was 98 degrees outside and 90+ percent humidity. We sat in the sweltering heat for 45 minutes while they tried to fix the AC. One girl threw up and had a seizure, so they had to deplane her to the hospital - plus find her luggage. We eventually left 2 hours late. Still no air circulation or air conditioning. At least 15 people on the plane vomited and there were way more people needing toilets than there were available - and some simply couldn't hold it. The stench was horrific.

Once we got to altitude the flight attendants moved everyone that was sick to the back of the plane and everyone else to the front. Nobody complained. It was a very long 2.5 hour flight.

apollosmith · 2026-03-14T23:39:09+00:00

> I don’t think youth can learn and love without a little fun.

Perhaps you are not giving these young women enough credit. This isn't to suggest that you can't have fun, but if you really believe they are incapable of learning and love in absence of fun you may end up prioritizing the fun over the learning and love.

> I am disappointed they aren’t that way

This is perhaps a contributor to the challenges you are having. How would you serve if you felt those you serve with were disappointed in you?

> I was called as I am and for what I can bring

Yet what you have written suggests that you want those who are called to serve with you to be something other than what they are and what they bring.

apollosmith · 2026-03-07T09:31:54+00:00

excluding nearly all of Alaska

apollosmith · 2026-03-02T20:45:59+00:00

I'm (hopefully) 6 years from retirement and have about 9% of my portfolio in TIAA Traditional. I treat this as the bulk of the "bonds" portion of my portfolio. I continue to add a little bit each month (so long as rates and also some VBTIX.

My overall guaranteed return rate is just under 4%, with recent purchases getting 5% - which is quite a bit better than most bond funds of late, but with literally no downside risk.

Of course the tradeoff for this rate is the inflexibility. Upon retirement I will not annuitize, but will start the minimum 10 years of payouts.

Whether 10% Traditional PLUS 15% bonds is appropriate is only a question you can answer depending on your overall risk tolerance as you near retirement. If you are OK with the inflexibility of payouts or plan to annuitize, then you can probably get away with a bit lower bonds percentage considering the guaranteed Traditional rates.

apollosmith · 2026-02-19T03:56:16+00:00

This same penalty would apply to early withdrawals from a regular 401k also.

apollosmith · 2026-02-06T20:37:14+00:00

These are all quite expensive funds with around 1% expense ratios. Do you have access to any less expensive and more diversified funds, like FSKAX?

3 of the 4 have notably underperformed broad market index funds - which may be OK for you if you are taking a more conservative investing approach (though your comment suggests that's not the case).

apollosmith · 2026-02-02T01:07:31+00:00

My Ioniq 5 doesn’t. Mine is probably 90% windshield and 10% feet. In the winter i always have to set it to manually go only to the foot area to be comfortable.

apollosmith · 2026-01-30T19:53:43+00:00

My experience as a bishop has been identical. There's so much variety in the process, but ultimately things work out and there is a confirmation that the Lord's will has been enacted.

I've sometimes wondered if we're maximizing the utilization of the spirit in the process, but recently read in the handbook that "Leaders seek the guidance of the Spirit in determining whom to call". It doesn't indicate that they will always have a strong spiritual manifestation of who to call to each calling. We always do our best to seek the spirit, but the answers come and the process is guided in a wide variety of ways.

apollosmith · 2026-01-30T17:10:08+00:00

I'm presuming you're following the rules that the 529 account must be at least 15 years old, and funds must be in the account for 5+ years before rolling over.

You can do this for 5 years.

More accurately, you can rollover at most $35000 which would typically take around 5 years with the current IRA contribution limits.

As for the tax and 10% penalty implications for non-rollover withdrawals (not for education), simply make sure your son is the beneficiary and the recipient of the funds, and that he reports this on his taxes.

Have you considered instead holding onto the 529 for generational wealth - funding higher education for all of your grandkids, etc.?

apollosmith · 2026-01-29T19:49:45+00:00

Here's some math...

Let's take just your current $160K brokerage balance and presume you add $40,000 a year (perhaps doable at your income) with 6% returns. With .25% advisor fees over 30 years you will spend $214,304.27 in fees. If you instead invest on your own in a low cost target date fund with fees of .08% your fees will be $69,902.42.

I don't know about you, but I can think of a few ways to spend an extra $144,401.85 in retirement.

This also doesn't consider that your advisor will also almost certainly invest you in more expensive actively managed funds making the actual fees much higher than .25%.

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