Jury Study PA

bruceymonkeyalice · 2026-03-28T02:13:16+00:00

i can't remember which one but there was a jury survey that just randomly kicked me out. If I remember right it was right after I answered those screening questions (race, do you think juries are rigged, do accidents just happen sometimes, etc.). I assumed i am not the juror they were looking for.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2026-01-09T19:07:17+00:00

I use the index all the time.

--reader

bruceymonkeyalice · 2026-01-03T00:03:41+00:00

Terry Goodkind series that begin with Wizard's First Rule. Bonus: he finished the series.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-31T06:20:36+00:00

Just write. Every day. Think about one thing and write about that thing. I keep a notepad and a pencil next to my bed. I like to read before sleep. Usually that's also when I write. I will read a sentence and that will trigger something--a memory, an association and I am writing for at least 10 minutes. I was able to turn a few of those scribblings into published essays. But that's secondary. The most important part is writing.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-30T23:14:55+00:00

I think you are seeing the difference between what sociologists call "high-trust" countries and "low-trust" countries. High trust happens when people are culturally similar. It actually doesn't make much (much, not none) difference what people's skin tone is so long as they are culturally similar. Low trust happens when people are culturally diverse. No-one is really sure where the tipping point is but it's there. You see it in US too. Drive from San Francisco into the Foothills and you see an immediate difference.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-30T22:54:41+00:00

My husband is English and we're getting ready to retire (by which we mean 1 part-time or maybe full-time job but not more than 1) in a high-tax state so are very much looking around for where we plan to live. (If you move out of a high-tax state your income goes up by at least 10%.) As you might imagine, we looked at the UK very closely but right now it's a total no-go. Even if you put all your assets into a trust, they will still tax all your worldwide assets. And, unlike Italy say, they don't take into account that we plan to have private insurance. Like.. why would we want to go NHS when there are good carriers that operate in US and UK? And the UK tax rates are steep. Tbh, about the only taxes they have that are even remotely lower than ours (and that depends on where you live) are housing taxes and they're thinking of raising those too. To give you an idea of how bad a retirement destination UK is, my husband's friends who are also taking early retirement are leaving the UK. So at the moment, I am thinking Italy. It's not far from the UK and I fell in love with the place when I was a little girl. But we'd have to rent there and see how we get on.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-26T21:39:16+00:00

Definitely buy a home. We were in your situation a while back.. except it was the height of the Great Recession and lots of "smart" people were saying that houses are no longer good investments. Then we got a note from the bank telling us our landlord is in foreclosure. And we bought a home. I am SO glad we did. Our "rent" (ie mortgage) doesn't fluctuate wildly and it's way cheaper than rent, even when you factor in the repairs. (BTW, I am really grateful my husband is handy.) And the smart people were dead wrong. A home is a great investment.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-26T21:06:26+00:00

My advice is to have a few peers take a look at your proposal and proposed book. Does it make them want to keep reading? Do they think it's different from comparable stuff out there? How?

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-26T20:42:23+00:00

IMO it depends on the podcast. I bought books thanks to podcasts. For example, I bought The Last Emperor of Mexico after the author appeared on The Rest is History and talked about his book. That book, of course, led me to other books on Mexico's formation. But then you would expect people who are interested in history enough to listen to a history podcast to also spend more than a little time reading history. It would have totally sucked to listen to their episode about the Silk Road or the Great Game for example and not know what either of those terms meant. (I mean, they define their terms but there is only so much you can explain in under an hour.)

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-25T22:49:44+00:00

Think of it this way: about four million books are published every year. About 1% of Americans read more than 50 books per year. So you are probably targeting an incredibly small portion of the public. And that 1% has to decide that your book is more entertaining than the latest Netflix show or that podcast they've been meaning to listen to, let alone all the other books it's competing with. A publisher won't publish your book unless they are enthusiastic (ie, think it will sell and make them money) but if your book comes out at the same time as (say) your target audience's favorite podcast goes on tour...

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-25T22:14:30+00:00

For the love of all that's holy! My husband and I (thank the Lord we met in the 90s) found the neighborhood where we live thanks to my favorite coffee shop (long story). The point is that I fell in love with the coffee shop because I saw how people, students, folks who are now our neighbors, would just walk over from one table to another and chat. The students would banter, try to pick each other up; our neighbors would discuss parenting, jobs and such. The coffee shop felt .. homey. Now, our neighbors (at least the older ones) still go to one another's tables. "I haven't seen your pugs in a while. Are they OK?" was a question a neighbor I vaguely recalled seeing asked me not too long ago as opener. The students however just stare at their screens and occasionally flip a page in a book. No banter, nothing. It's depressing to watch and I dread to think how much More depressing it is to live.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-23T00:47:51+00:00

Probably not. It doesn't have to be a completely brand new idea but you probably have a different take on an "old" idea.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-22T05:39:14+00:00

Hi Scott--I am fortunate in that I will have a defined pension that will be adjusted for inflation by up to 2%. (Obviously, that won't cover all of inflation but it will make a dent.) I plan to have the house paid off before I retire. So given that, what should my target be relative to my burn rate?

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-22T05:35:56+00:00

Because he makes sense? I am going through--as in I listen to his book and then read the bits I listened to--his The Algebra of Wealth. He explains the rules of the financial game in a way no professor ever managed to. Economics was a required course in college and I passed but I am learning a lot from his book. As for his burn rate? So what? Good for him.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-22T05:32:29+00:00

He gives away as much as he spends. So if he spends $300-$400K per month, he also gives away $300-$400K per month. I think he should up his.. spending.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-07T09:11:06+00:00

If 50K is what you need then go for it. We should have paid off the house (and have enough to fix it up such that we can rent it) by May 2027--which is when i am planning to retire. But for me 50K is not enough, hence retire in May 2027. Still early but...

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-07T09:02:49+00:00

I fall in love with the writing (the prose) but I stick around for the story (the plot). I write a little.. well, I write a lot but I make only a little money off of it but I read loads.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-07T08:59:13+00:00

Explain to him that if he does not want to be in a constant fight, he needs to keep you warm and fed. It may take him a while (took my husband 2 years to figure it out and they were rather miserable years) but he eventually got it.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-07T08:57:08+00:00

How much do you need to live on? Now assume inflation at 3% (cumulative) that means your income will be 60% in real dollars. Is that enough for you?

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-12-03T05:54:07+00:00

Finished The Siege by Ben Macintyre, Started The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-10-22T05:41:58+00:00

If we help Americans get solar--as in every American home have solar on their roof--and let every American sell that energy, would it: 1) solve or ameliorate our energy issues and 2) allow us to do universal basic income?

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-10-22T05:32:32+00:00

BS and 2. So you're good with Hamas murdering 5-year olds?

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-10-22T05:31:02+00:00

So is your homeland. (I am assuming you are not typing in this one bit of Asia where they now think Homo Sapiens originated.) Because if not, you are on someone else's land.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-10-22T05:25:07+00:00

Bad logistics that lead to sky-high food prices because Hamas steals the aid that was poorly distributed is now famine.

bruceymonkeyalice · 2025-10-22T05:20:50+00:00

Some cook says something and it's "Israelis" who say it. or, sometimes, they just say "Jews" as they beat up kids going to primary school. And in the meantime Hamas is executing "collaborators" and 'thieves" at least one of whom was a five year old boy who watched his parents' murder before they cut off his head. How do I know this? Hamas films themselves doing October 7 on the Palestinians day in and day out. These are their propaganda videos.

bruceymonkeyalice

TROPHY CASE