by Sara Baker | Oct 30, 2025 | Articles
In my hometown, we have a railroad trestle that goes over the James River. One late winter night, after snow sledding, my buddy and I walked across the snow-covered trestle in pitch dark. It wasn’t one of our brightest moves; it was a lose-lose with not much upside....
by Sara Baker | Oct 22, 2025 | Articles
I was recently speaking with one of my best friends, who is a pilot, about flight turbulence. He said there are two kinds of turbulence: natural turbulence caused by weather (wind) and pilot-induced turbulence, which happens when a pilot makes a mistake. We are...
by Sara Baker | Oct 15, 2025 | Articles
I read recently that a young Australian Shepherd dog was missing after a traffic accident, and everyone was to be on the lookout. Though he was a pet, his breed’s original job was to herd sheep. Another great shepherding tool was the use of a bellwether, where...
by Sara Baker | Oct 8, 2025 | Articles
When the world feels uncertain — inflation high, government debt ballooning, central banks under pressure — investors tend to look beyond the dollar for a safety net. Gold, the age-old hedge, often leads that retreat. But to understand why, you must see them not as...
by Sara Baker | Oct 1, 2025 | Articles
As a kid, October was the month for opportunity. It’s when walnuts fell from the tree, and my Poppy and I would pick them up and haul them in feed sacks to sell. It was work in the beginning, but it gave us some extra spending money at the end. That might be exactly...
by Sara Baker | Sep 24, 2025 | Articles
My wife and I bought our first house in 1997 for $23,000 and had a 7.5% mortgage rate. Even though the loan was small, it was still scary for a new finance guy and a school teacher. A lower interest rate would have really helped us out. We don’t worry so much about...
