I happen to live in a city that I once visited on vacation.

Because of this, I often wonder: In a given moment, when I'm not actually working, what is the difference between being on vacation and not being on vacation?

Well, I'll tell you: It's doing the dishes. But a big part of it is the mindset. I've learned that I can be "on vacation" by changing my attitude.

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When I left college, I thought I was going to be a performing songwriter.

I recorded an album of original songs that year.

I recorded another album of original songs eighteen months later.

And since then...nothing.

I've written songs, but I've never gotten back to the mindset I once had in which writing and recording songs meant everything.

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I watched a bunch of episodes of Fraggle Rock as a kid, but there's only one that I remember with any clarity.

Among the Fraggles, there lived creatures called Doozers. They were continually building and rebuilding structures in and among the rock formations of their habitat. The Fraggles ate these structures, which is why the Doozers were constantly rebuilding.

Well, in one episode, the Fraggles feel guilty and decide to stop eating the Doozers' structures.

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It's always funny to hear personal finance experts try to avoid using the word budget.

"It's a spending plan!" As if a budget isn't a spending plan.

We humans are easy to fool, and we like being fooled. It's worth it if we get the results we're looking for with respect to what we're trying to accomplish.

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Maine is currently experiencing one of the worst Covid outbreaks in the United States.

The new case rate is third in the nation, behind only Colorado and Michigan.

But hold on a second. Maine is also one of the least populous states. It’s number 42 out of 50, with only about 1.3 million people. So the total daily average of new reported cases is only 238. That’s actually 32nd in the nation based on the raw numbers.

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