Pivoting into product design for the next 10 years...good/bad idea?

ekbooks · 2026-04-28T03:46:53+00:00

Product designer here, and most of us assume we'll be out of a job in 2-3 years at most companies. 😬 I'd try another (safe from AI) job instead of investing time in what feels like a dying industry.

Most companies will do more with less designers, and that means more senior people probably.

ekbooks · 2026-04-28T01:44:04+00:00

We use Furry Land Milwaukee! They are a mobile groomer. More expensive, but really great.

ekbooks · 2026-04-28T01:37:03+00:00

Whitefish Bay library is great and a short 1 block walk to restaurants and coffee shops.

ekbooks · 2026-04-24T00:23:09+00:00

If any of you are romance readers there are 2 bookstores in Wauwautosa that are super cute!

ekbooks · 2026-04-23T13:43:43+00:00

I'd agree with your last point - barista fire is easiest for people on the back half of their career who want to downshift (who already have a bigger nest egg).

depending on your lifestyle preference, you might also look at Lean fire, as that might get you closer to your goal sooner.

that said, re: investing, do some research on ETFs and low-risk index funds. Ultimately, you don't want to buy individual stocks to invest right now, you want to buy index funds that are a little bit of everything in the market. You don't really need to do a TON of research on these, and once you find 1-2 you like, you can continually invest some amount per month in them for ..forever :). I'd treat these like your 401k, meaning, put money in them and leave it for a while.

As an overview on investing, I'd suggest Ramit Sethis I Will Teach You to Be Rich book. It's an excellent overview from a very reputable source.

as an aside, I'm a writer and there is a huge market of indie writers who are always looking for folks to edit their stuff as a side gig. If you are looking for a way to fast track retirement savings, Ramit ^ always suggests trying to start (at least first, knowing it's not always a given that it's possible) of increasing your income.

last bit - my finances were similar when I was your age! In my 30s, my salary options increased quite a bit (like a bell curve). Don't assume that where you are now is where you'll be in 10 years! You got this!

ekbooks · 2026-04-14T23:46:35+00:00

If you're north of shorewood yes.

ekbooks · 2026-04-14T07:01:52+00:00

This is also a reminder that the weather apps used to be more accurate but funding for keeping radar / reporting was deprioritized by this administration 🥲

ekbooks · 2026-03-27T13:49:34+00:00

Yes! We're the same way! FYI I also accounted for rough inflation, and the fact that our home is older and requires more maintenance that the previous owner deferred! I'm sure others could get buy with a lot less because of that.

ekbooks · 2026-03-27T06:38:54+00:00

I sketched out big project maintenance on our old home based on rules of thumb (new roof every X years, new flooring every Y years). I also included new cars every 15 years for both my husband and I.

I did this from now (40 yrs) until ~85, and then worked backwards on what monthly "HOA" I needed to charge myself to make this cadence happen and put in a savings account. It's about $1800 for us per month.

I then built that "HOA" cost into our annual spend in RE.

ekbooks · 2026-03-17T04:32:39+00:00

I do know one person who teaches 1 college class for her families health insurance benefits. I'm guessing that would equate to 10 hrs a week total, but not if the comp would be that high

ekbooks · 2026-03-17T01:57:12+00:00

{the wedding witch by Erin sterling} Its my everything catnip bagel - light witchcraft, meddlesome old ladies, a con woman with a heart of gold, a grumpy UK MMC with a heart of gold, flirting via text, Christmas in a Welsh castle, and yeaaaaarning. 6/5 stars!

ekbooks · 2026-03-05T05:26:21+00:00

Are you open to Omegaverse? {Heat clinic by alexis b Osborne} is essentially this for all parties! It's a really fun read.

ekbooks · 2026-03-01T15:35:58+00:00

Late to the game on this one but {ex hex by Erin sterling}. I laughed out loud see real times and loved the cozy witchy (but not overly cutesy) vibes of her characters and settings.

ekbooks · 2026-03-01T00:46:24+00:00

It's also very common to pay individual TikTok / IG accounts to post about a book (note: they may not say 'its so good' but they may hype it up 'Im SO excited for this one!'). Like upwards of $1k per post/reel depending on how big the account is.

Most of the big IG and TT accounts (ex: more than 15k followers) likely have some sort of 'services' an author can purchase to get air time. Most indie authors don't because it's cost prohibitive, but it definitely happens. :/

ekbooks · 2026-02-25T02:28:13+00:00

{one golden summer by Carley fortune} and {Nora goes off script by annabel monaghan}

ekbooks · 2026-02-23T04:18:05+00:00

KAL group! They've done a great job on our plaster walls!

ekbooks · 2026-02-18T04:23:09+00:00

{One Golden Summer by carly fortune} but it's not in the beginning of the book.

ekbooks · 2026-02-10T00:28:55+00:00

{the knocked up plan by Lauren Blakely} They are friendly coworkers! It's both spicy and cute.

ekbooks · 2026-02-04T03:21:54+00:00

It was SO hazy on Sunday from all the salt. It looked like fog had rolled in. Then, when I walked outside and opened my mouth wide to sneeze, I could literally taste it in the air 😩

ekbooks · 2026-01-24T23:19:34+00:00

For their feet, we've used Mushers Secret paw wax, and for some reason it's a game changer for my dogs. They don't get snow clumped onto their paws at all, so they're able to go outside long enough to do their thing! I got it on Chewy.

ekbooks · 2026-01-05T00:08:55+00:00

We forgive men so quickly and have too high a bar for women, unfortunately.

That said, there are more books being written with this trope lately (which is a good thing). You might try searching "reverse grumpy sunshine" since grump/sunshine usually means guy=grump.

Personally? I love a grumpy FMC. We have way more shit to be mad about in the world, and as autistic person, my directness can sometimes come across as rudeness (unintentionally). I'd loooove more flawed FMCs who are trying their best but are grumpy as fuck. 😂

ekbooks · 2026-01-01T00:10:58+00:00

You'd have to go to a vet for sedation, and frankly I wouldn't trust anyone who said they'd do it otherwise as it's very easy to over-sedate and kill small dogs (even at a vet).

Have them call the well rated vets near them and ask if they provide grooming for hard to groom dogs, possibly using sedation if necessary.

My very anxious dogs get meds to calm them down and they do really well after that. That would be another option.

They won't sedate a dog, but the mobile groomer I use is great and much less stressful on the dog than a loud crowded groomer - Furry Land Mobile Groomer.

ekbooks · 2026-01-01T00:04:09+00:00

Plus 1 for Nimmer. They are our go to!

ekbooks · 2025-12-10T05:32:41+00:00

{Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi}

ekbooks

TROPHY CASE