This is a story about a chair. Although there are still about two weeks left in Major League Baseball’s regular season, the New York Yankees chose an arbitrary day this week to honor short-stop Derek Jeter on the occasion of his retirement. Beyond being unarguably one of the greatest players in the history of the […]
From the faux gypsy caravans at county fairs to the Asian- and Arab-inspired architecture of Tivoli amusement park to the reggae-obsessed hoards at Freetown Christiania, the tension between native Danes – tall, blonde, educated and wealthy, as the stereotype reads – and the supposedly exotic cultures they have appropriated as symbols of leisure and escape […]
In case you missed the whole Obamacare thing, here’s a news flash: insurance is a big deal. And not just in healthcare. Insurance premiums are a market signal that indicates the relative risk associated with a given activity. Case in point: buying flood insurance for a McMansion in Miami Beach should be crazy expensive, given […]
In the past week, I’ve chosen to “unfriend” two acquaintances on Facebook due to their unabashed political rhetoric. I did not relish doing it, as I am a vocal advocate of free speech, and burning bridges is a nasty habit I’ve tried to quit. However, I use my Facebook profile to, among other things, post news […]
My first week at Maersk was good albeit a bit slow. Nobody works here! Really, I’m the last one to leave at 3:30 every day. They have a great cafeteria which encourages a good working environment because you could be eating lunch next to the CEO (and everyone is well-fed and adequately caffeinated, which is […]
This is my friend Sieds. He is 67 years old and was born in the aftermath of World War II in rural Friesland during an era of continued food shortages and privation. He performed 18 months of mandatory military service in West Germany in the 60’s before starting a career with the national postal service, […]
It’s one thing to be classmates, or roommates, or teammates. Indeed, each of these labels carries new weights of shared responsibility and helps to build even closer ties, especially when living together in a crumbling New England farm house or racing bikes in freezing rain. But to meet someone’s family and spend time in the […]
