What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0155

7701.  The Pony Express used orphaned teenagers as riders;

7702.  The (United States Postal Service’s) dead letter office is the only government entity that can read your mail without a warrant;

7703.  Warren Buffet is a Cornhusker.  He graduated from the University of Nebraska (in Lincoln);

7704.  To make consistent money in options, if you think something is going to go higher, sell a put credit spread and, if you think something is going to go lower, sell a call credit spread;

7705.  The maple (icing) with (chopped) bacon (doughnut) at Duck Donuts (DuckDonuts.com) is pretty tasty . . . and so is strawberry (icing) with graham cracker and salted caramel;

7706.  The average human life is relatively short;

7707.  You will only ever live the life you create for yourself;

7708.  Being busy does not mean being productive;

7709.  Some kind of failure always occurs before success;

7710.  Thinking and doing are two very different things;

7711.  You don’t have to wait for an apology to forgive;

7712.  Some people are simply the wrong match for you;

7713.  It’s not other people’s job to love you; it’s yours;

7714.  What you own is not who you are;

7715.  Everything changes every second;

7716.  “Big Jim’s Bar-B-Que” in Charlottesville is back as “Red Hub Food Co.” (RedHubFoodCo.com);

7717.  Apparently, the key to removing mildew from siding is to use Clorox (Concentrated Pro Results) Outdoor Bleach (in your pressure washer);

7718.  The lemon mousse with raspberries (i.e., three layers of moist genoise sponge with a filling made from fresh lemon juice, whipped cream, eggs whites & fresh raspberries, ringed with a frazipan & raspberry jam & decorated with a passion fruit mirror & fresh berries) at the Alexandria Pastry Shop (AlexandraPastry.com) is tasty;

7719.  Apparently, the key to scraping paint from a window is to use a lot of glass cleaner (as a lubricant);

7720.  The way to scrape silicone (sealant) and paint from a window is to score the silicone at the edge panes with a utility knife and then scrape;

7721.  Adele’s birthday is on Cinco de Mayo;

7722.  When sanding joint compound, (using) a hand sander is (way) faster than (using) a sanding sponge;

7723.  Hot tub . . . check . . . back deck . . . (double) check;

7724.  5 steps for manifesting: 1.  Focus – Decide what it is that you want in your life and focus on it.  Whatever you focus on expands good and bad.  Be as specific as possible.  Focus on 1 goal at a time.  Creative visualization every day; 2.  Boost – Generate strong positive emotions of dopamine and serotonin.  Relive positive past experiences; 3.  Release attachment – Release everything/blocks preventing you from having it.  Stop “I don't have . . . .”  Stop limiting beliefs; 4.  Feel gratitude – Learn to have appreciation for all you have now, the people you know, what you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve come.  Gratitude journal – what you’re grateful for and why; and 5.  Go and take inspired action – The path to success meanders.  Perfection is not required.  Trust your intuition.  Do one action/little thing every day;

7725.  According to a Bowling Green State University study, the rate of divorce for couples over the age of 50 jumped from one in ten couples in 1990 to over one-quarter of them just 20 years later;

7726.  When you invest for cash flow, you’re investing in a money-back guarantee.  If you invest for capital gains, you invest in hope.  The biggest thief of all is hope;

7727.  Without the stress and layers of being busy, you have to pay attention to things you might not like paying attention to.  You might have to focus on things you don’t like about yourself or your life and that can create psychological pain;

7728.  A pleasant encounter with someone we don’t know, even a nonverbal one, can soothe us when no one else is around.  It may get us out of our own head, a proven mood booster, and help broaden our perspective;

7729.  “People feel more connected when they talk to strangers like they are part of something bigger,” says Gillian Sandstrom, a psychologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex, in Colchester, England, who studies interactions between strangers;

7730.  People are happier on days when they have more interactions with acquaintances they don’t know well and students enjoy class more when they interact with their classmates;

7731.  Dr. Sandstrom’s research shows people underestimate how much another person will like them when they talk for the first time;

7732.  In a study in which Dr. Sandstrom asked participants to talk to at least one stranger a day for five days, 99% said they found at least one of the conversations pleasantly surprising, 82% said they learned something from one of the strangers, 43% exchanged contact information and 40% had communicated with one of the strangers again, an indication they might be making friends;

7733.  Scientists believe there may be an ancient reason why humans enjoy interacting with strangers.  To survive as a species, we need to mate outside our own gene pool, so we may have evolved to have both the social skills and the motivation to interact with people who are not in our tribe;

7734.  Multiple studies show that people who interact regularly with passing acquaintances or who engage with others through community groups, religious gatherings or volunteer opportunities have better emotional and physical health and live longer than people who do not;

7735.  Researchers believe that engaging with someone we don’t know well is more cognitively challenging than interacting with loved ones.  Rather than use the verbal shorthand that develops in close relationships, we have to speak in full sentences, engaging more of our brains;

7736.  Why do we enjoy talking to people we don’t know?  An encounter with a stranger, when pleasant, fulfills four basic human needs, according to Rachel Kazez, a licensed clinical social worker in Chicago, who advises her patients to talk to strangers when they are feeling low.  It gives us a sense of control because we can choose whether to talk or not and how much information we disclose.  We feel connected; it can sometimes be easier to open up and have an intimate conversation with a stranger because we know we won’t see that person again.  We get to feel capable because they don’t know our insecurities or setbacks.  And the encounter may give us a sense of meaning or purpose especially because a stranger doesn’t have to be nice to us;

7737.  If you are feeling lonely and have a nice interaction with a stranger on a bus, you can suddenly feel like: “Oh, I fit in.  I’m part of this city;”

7738.  Ten ways to connect with strangers: 1.  Be brave.  Research shows that we underestimate how much people like us when we talk to them the first time.  We’re not as boring as we think; 2.  Chat up someone you see regularly, perhaps at the coffee shop, gym or elevator at work.  Research shows that people are happier on days when they interact more with acquaintances.  “They make you feel that your day is familiar and that you are recognized,” says Karen Fingerman, a professor of human development & family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of “Consequential Strangers: Turning Everyday Encounters Into Life Changing Moments;” 3.  Ask about the other person.  Everyone loves to talk about themselves; 4.  Bond during a challenging experience such as when you’re stuck in a long line or on a bad flight.  Making a connection can make the experience feel shorter and more positive, says Jacqueline Sperling, a psychologist and director of training and research at McLean Anxiety Mastery Program at McLean Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts; 5.  Ask for help.  This will make you feel less alone.  And the other person will get a mood boost that comes from doing a good deed; 6.  Focus on what you have in common.  (There’s always the weather.)  Then take baby steps to move away from small talk, which is not conducive to a real connection, says Gillian Sandstrom, a psychologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex, in Colchester, England; 7.  Mutual disclosure helps.  But be careful not to overshare; 8.  Use humor.  Everyone can use a smile; 9.  Make sure the interaction is equal.  Is the other person enjoying it?  Or would s/he prefer to be left alone?; and 10.  Do it again.  Just like everything else, talking to strangers is easier if you practice.  And don’t worry if every encounter isn’t positive.  “You don’t expect every book you read to be great,” says Dr. Sandstrom.  “Conversations are the same way;”

7739.  To determine the intrinsic business value of an asset, simply take the present value of the net cash flows from here to eternity based on current bond rates.  The hard part is predicting the future cash flows;

7740.  Warren Buffet noted that if he and Charlie Munger can get an intrinsic business value of X to 3X for an asset then they attempt to buy it at ½X;

7741.  When I’m walking down the street or browsing the aisles of a store, it seems that most people are (just) unaware of the people around them;

7742.  Investing in income producing real estate: 1.  The property has to cash flow; 2.  The purchase price of the property has to be below the replacement value for the new construction; 3.  The monthly rents have to be at least 1% of the fair market value of the property; and 4.  There has to be a short term plan for the return of your investment (i.e., a horizon of 0 months to 3 years to have the down payment come back);

7743.  Caroline Jones (the country music singer) is the daughter of Paul Tudor Jones (the investor);

7744.  Cheated on . . . check;

7745.  Apparently, if you work at Google (and you’re a woman), they’ll freeze your eggs;

7746.  The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths and the fact that millions of people share the same mental pathology does not make these people sane;

7747.  For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation;

7748.  Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one not even an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements.  Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, (and) irredeemable.  To love is to be vulnerable;

7749.  Apparently, your metabolism is at about 25% (of normal) when you have a hangover;

7750.  The number one fear of American adults isn’t death.  Death is actually number five on the list or lower depending on which study you read;