RatLinks: March 2019 - Issue #3
Pebble Beach | Master Class |
Hello and welcome to the March edition of RatLinks.
A quick weather update for everyone. (That has no scientific basis). Who needs science anyways?!
On February 2nd 2019, at Gobblers Knob (a real place) Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow. This predicts an early spring. The analysis by America’s favorite groundhog seems in line with the adage: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.
Next month be on the lookout for the launch of The RatLinks Quarterly, a digital and print long-form compendium on single subjects. If you are interested in becoming a contributor, - please let me know.
Preamble
What a month! First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended my son Ryan’s 1st birthday. I believe everyone had a great time with the exception of one person: me.
Why didn’t I have a good time? I saw almost 90 of my closest friends and relatives, most of whom are readers of this newsletter.
Guess what?
Not one person asked about Multituli.
As stated in the prior Ratlinks entitled “I’ll be Amster-Damned”
Be forewarned. Next time you see me, you best be ready to swap Multituli stories, because your boy not only saw where Multituli was born, the desk where he wrote Max Havelaar, but also the couch he died on. Photos available upon request.
To quote our 45th president:
Sad! - Donald J. Trump
A goal of mine for 2019 is to become way better at golf, a simple, but not easy, game. As one does when they are trying to get better at golf, I took a trip with a few of my friends to Pebble Beach. I played rounds at Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill. I did not play well. If you are a golfer or interested in pristine coast line I highly recommend a trip to Pebble. Pebble is fantastically beautiful, the stormy weather made for extremely rough seas. Driving along the coast, I pulled over at a vista and got out of the car. After about 30 seconds of watching the waves, I began to find some perspective as I realized how thankful I was standing there and not on that rock 50 feet in front of me. Right then the rock vanished as a huge wave crested over it.
After a long day of golf, the Inn at Spanish Bay was nice enough to provide a three hour rental of a Lexus LC500. We were off to visit Refuge, America’s first co-ed outdoor silent relaxation spa. A group in another car got there first. I join two of the guys, both brothers, in one of the large outdoor hot tubs. As I got in, one of them turned and whispered, (remember this is a totally silent spa).
There are people having sex in these hot tubs. Everywhere
I looked around and sure enough there were couples walking around but that’s all I saw. As we were leaving an employee radio went off and I thought I heard:
Someone has fainted on the pool deck
My friend corrected me to say he heard:
Someone is naked on the pool deck
Sure enough, we turn and security is escorting a couple off the pool deck.
Later in the month I went to Tampa, Florida on business. This trip took me to Clearwater, Florida, again named America’s top beach. Driving through Clearwater is America in a nutshell. You pass every fast food franchise ever known, the original Hooters, the second Hooters, a third Hooters, off-brand Hooters knockoffs, multiple Taco Bells, a shopping center with four different eye glass chains with a standalone Pearl Vision. The neon lights are blinding.
Upon arriving to the hotel, my colleague and I sat in the lobby attempting to work, but kept getting distracted by the clientele walking in. These were real Florida people. My colleague turns and says who would ever come to this place on vacation. As I attempt to respond, I turn and there is my college roommate on a baby moon with his wife. Brian, it was great to run into you too.
Books
This month I am reading Becoming Ageless by Strauss Zelnick. I had the good fortune to sit down with Strauss earlier this month for career counseling.
The ideal takeaway would be an understanding that building physical, mental, and spiritual strength will improve just about everything—from family life and friendships to business success and self-confidence.
Below is a big takeaway from my meeting with Strauss which I suggest every single person act upon immediately.
Imagine a watercolor painting of your life 10 or 20 years from now. Why a watercolor? Well, because the details aren’t as important as the general sense of where you are as a person. Ask yourself: Are you married? Do you have children? What is your job, or have you retired? Where do you live? How do you live? Is money a factor in your happiness equation? How much leisure time do you have? How do you devote that leisure time?
You can see all the books I am reading here
Links
10 Best Mobility | Flexibility Drills (PRE-WORKOUT)
Great group of flexibility drills if you are feeling tight. The entire channel is great. (H/T J Scott)
In the Pale of Winter, Trump’s Tan Remains a State Secret - The New York Times
The White House insists that only “good genes” and a clear powder are behind President Trump’s glow, but mysteries about his grooming routine abound. POTUS is always tan and “handsome”. Has to be his good genes
The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist | The New Yorker
Jake Halpern on the skilled climber and thief Vjeran Tomic, whom the French press referred to as Spider-Man and who has described robbery as an act of imagination.This is a long, but really interesting article about a man who broke into and stole some of Paris’ finest art. Turns out if you steal art its really hard to resell it for a high value.
Post Script
I continue with MasterClass. I learned a great lesson about iteration from Judd Apatow. His point was on screenwriting, but it can be applied to everything in life.
Don’t fall in love with your ideas. Screenwriters who fail have one thing in common. They try to sell a script that no one wants. Stop trying to sell the script and start on the next one.
Seth Klarman, billionaire founder of the hedge fund Baupost, made a similar point in his annual letter.
A reliever who has blown a save has much in common with an investor. When you make an investment and the price drops, the key is to see the fall in price as not necessarily indicative of a past error or failure (no one, after all, can predict the daily meanderings of the markets), but as an opportunity. It’s not a do-over – what’s done is done – but it is a fresh chance to make another good investment, potentially an even better one now that those shares are lower in price. As we’ve said before, the key in investing is to see the market’s fluctuations not as a source of feedback, a report card if you will, but as a potential driver of opportunity.
Think you are smarter than the average? Take a look at the below image and see how you follow along.
Scroll down to look at the image in total.
¡Quédate sediento mis amigos!