Promoted Tweet of the Day

When my kids were young, I carried a lot of life insurance. I also got talked into buying a policy on my wife so that, if she died, I could buy a Corvette take some time off to go hiking spend time with the kids.

@Dodgerblue: If I kick it, the gubmint will pay out one year’s salary to the wife – assuming President Paul doesn’t zero that out. Otherwise, the fallback is that she and the kids will go back to the Old Country and drink coffee, take six week summer vacations and actually enjoy life.

Mr. Cub’s father killed himself in 1994 when he got way in over his head financially. Kept up a lifestyle his family couldn’t afford and was too proud to admit he needed help. He had a policy that *did* pay out in the event of suicide. The scenario scares the shit out of me.

“Look at you. You used to be so cocky. You were going to go out and conquer the world. You once called me a warped, frustrated, old man! What are you but a warped, frustrated young man? A miserable little clerk crawling in here on your hands and knees and begging for help. No securities, no stocks, no bonds. Nothin’ but a miserable little $500 equity in a life insurance policy.

[chuckles]

Why, George Bailey, you’re worth more dead than alive!”

@rptrcub: Jesus H, that’s just awful.

@SanFranLefty: And the thing was — Mr. Cub, Mr. Cub’s sister, and Mr. Cub’s mom were all working at the time and could have contributed to the family income coffer if his father only asked. But his father’s pride wouldn’t let him, and they used their funds for other things.

@Nabisco: I like the second one better anyway. You should do that one now…minus the dying, I mean.

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: Yep. I’m going to take one more shot at the brass ring amoebic dysentery available through international travel as a career, and then it’ll be off to the wine, olives and clear blue waters of the Adriatic for me and the wife.

@Nabisco: Don’t forget giardia, my beloved, recurring friend from Peace Corps days of yore. BTW, did you hear they closed new programs for Guatalama and El Salvador
? Is it possible that it’s actually more dangerous there now than when you were there?

@flippin eck: Doh. Edit function still hates me, Nojo. :(

@flippin eck: Turn it off and on again.

Oops, sorry. Silent Creative Partner has me watching The IT Crowd.

Browser, version, platform. If I can duplicate it, I can fix it. Or at least tell you what you’re doing terribly wrong.

@flippin eck: Ah yes, giardia: the Great Anti-Social Disorder, characterized by sulphur burps.

Oh and yes – Guate has homicide rates second only to Honduras in the world, worse than any (any) active combat zone on the planet. Most of the tourist areas are still generally safe, but you never know when the Zetas are going to square off against Walter White. My day job the last several months has been to study transnational organized crime in the Americas, which means the night time viewing of “Breaking Bad” and “Boardwalk Empire” has been very entertaining.

But soon it will be Buddhists, military dictatorships and drug-resistant malaria.

@Nabisco: This is your last mission? Be careful — you know what happens in the movies.

@Dodgerblue: No – I’m in the hunt for another gig, same employer but offshore, so in the meantime I have to go walkabout while they decide.

@Nabisco: Yeah, that and gushing violently from both ends. Emily Post has no guidance on advising neighbors in camp to keep a distance safe to avoid splashes from explosive discharges.

@nojo: Um, let’s see: Vista and IE (don’t laugh, I’m at work). When I click on edit, it opens a full-size pane with the edit box in the upper left corner. But after I make changes and click on “submit,” it jumps back to the thread to reveal nothing has changed. Is that enough to go on?

@flippin eck: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Er…

Which version of IE? I thought I had checked it in 8 & 9 — and I remember dealing with that problem — but I may have rushed the fix.

Less than 8, you’re on your own.