The following article is the second part of Kosmo’s Greatest Hits. It’s his subtle grift of getting me to pay him twice for the content he’s already written – like a sitcom clip show. I appreciate the lazy factor, so I’m embracing it. You can read Kosmo Greatest Hits Volume 1 here.
Welcome to another installment in my walk down memory lane. Let’s take a look back at a few more of my favorite articles from the past.
The Great Baseball card regifting
The article details how I took a 1976 Topps baseball set that I was given, broke it into team sets, and sent them to fans of various teams.
Looking back at the article, it mentions that I set aside the Cardinals set for my son. That’s news to me. At some point, I’ll have to dig around in the storage closet to see if I can find it. I’m sure I put it somewhere safe. (Translation: I have no idea where it might be.)
The Expos set went to Jonah Keri. At the time, he was a prominent sports writer and author. He was one of the foremost fans of the Montreal Expos. Unfortunately, the only time he has been in print lately is as the subject of news articles detailing his abuse of his ex-wife. Sometimes people who seem like nice guys really aren’t.
When I wrote this article, Lazy Man sent me a 1983 Fleer card of my childhood idol, Ryne Sandberg. That card is in a prominent location at the top of my desk.
Pizzagate and financial fraud
Remember Pizzagate? The basic idea was that a pizza restaurant in DC was a front for a child trafficking ring. Proponents of the idea “discovered” coded language in emails. When an email said that Hillary Clinton needed ten large pepperoni pizzas delivered to an event, this was actually coded language for something far more nefarious.
As bizarre as this idea was, it actually got some traction in various groups.
Ultimately, a guy drove from North Carolina to DC to break up the “pedophilia ring” and fired several shots inside the pizzeria. He was sentenced to four years in prison in June 2017 and was released on May 28, 2020. In addition to traumatizing the employees at the pizzeria, the gunman threw away his future just because he got sucked into a conspiracy theory.
Sadly, this was just a single point in a journey toward an increasing frequency of conspiracy theories.
McEconomics
This article focused on paying attention to what you are buying to ensure you pay the lowest price for a bundle of items. The example in the article was piecing together items from a McDonald’s value menu to create the same food bundle was the McDonald’s value meals but for a lower price. While prices have escalated in McWorld lately, the basic premise remains valid. In the McDonald’s universe, the twenty-piece a la carte nuggets and the $1 any-size drinks are the foundations of an economical, albeit unhealthy, meal.
I’m ashamed to admit that I recently failed a McEconomics test. My wife wanted two McRibs. I ordered two McRibs for her and a drink ($1) for me. The cashier asked if I wanted the McRib meal plus a bonus McRib for $1. Since I didn’t want the fries, I said no. A few minutes later, I realized it would have been cheaper to do it this way and just tell them to keep the fries.
[Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to check the McDonalds app for free fast food.]
How to bribe your coworkers
What’s the best way to bribe your co-workers? With donuts and chocolate, of course.
At my current job, I have pivoted a bit. I still occasionally bring donuts, but I’m mostly known as the guy who keeps the ice cream stocked so that there are always some tasty treats in the freezer. It’s not particularly expensive and helps me maintain my image of being a nice guy.
What’s my angle? When I need a favor from a co-worker, they know that I have already done them a favor in the past by bringing in ice cream. It’s a reasonably cheap way to build some team chemistry.
A killer made me do it
This article is the first of two on the topic of stamp collecting. (The second was “what’s worth collecting“.)
I’m not spending quite as much time on my collection as I was in the early days. One reason is that we’re no longer in COVID lockdown, so there are other activities to consume my time. Another reason is that I don’t have too many gaps in my primary collection (New Zealand, 1855-1970). I have all the stamps from 1940-1970. Most of the stamps I’m missing are from pre-1920. These stamps are either expensive, ugly, or both (high-value fiscal stamps).
True to my frugal ways, I primarily collect canceled stamps, which are almost always cheaper than mint stamps. In addition to the fact that they are cheaper, I like the idea of owning stamps that actually served their intended purpose of getting a letter to its intended destination.
Job Search Journey
Job Search Journey was the most cathartic content I have written for Lazy Man and Money. It started with me losing the job I’d had for more than twenty years. The company simply decided to cut loose hundreds of remote workers, and they chose to focus on co-location of team members. Remember the old days, pre-COVID, when “remote worker” was a bad word?
This series of articles was written as I navigated a foreign process in an attempt to find another job. Although I had occasionally interviewed for other jobs, I hadn’t had a real job search since leaving college. It was a very frustrating process but ultimately became great for me professionally. I have upskilled considerably in the past five years.
If you’re currently a job seeker, this series may interest you.
The Whole Job Search Series:
1. You’re Fired
3. Networking
4. Learn
5. The Interview
6. Frustration
7. Success
8. Sink or Swim
10. Job Search Journey: The Interview that Lasted for Seven Months
11. Advice
Another job hunt
Three years after the job hunt chronicled in Job Search Journey, I decided to spread my wings and look for a different challenge. Another job hunt details the reasons for the job hunt, as well as the initial steps in the process. This was a different job hunt than my previous one because I wasn’t losing my current job – thus, it didn’t require the same level of urgency.
Although urgency wasn’t required, things unfolded very quickly. I launched my job hunt on December 12, interviewed on January 6, accepted an offer on January 8, and started the new job on January 25.
It ended up being a great move. Not only do I enjoy my current work, but a subsequent layoff at the previous job would have almost certainly affected me.