One of the two little dots in the Tao symbol has move on...
For years, we have been poking and bantering with each other.
All in good fun as it didn't take long for the two of us to figure out we are actually two opposing sides of the same coin!
In our community - where most "yalor, yalor" out of politeness, or to insulate themselves in the echo chamber of reinforcing beliefs - you are the rare voice of rebuttals!
I thank you for your sense of humour, and tolerance to suffer the slings and arrows of my "no big, no small" pokes.
Blogging would not be the same without you...
See you in the stars! CW the fisherman!
And unspoken things.
Jacob will be missed.
ReplyDeleteI recalled when I was nearing 55 (in 2016) and pondering my next step, I was eagerly devouring the postings from a few bloggers:
1. CW8888
2. AK71
3. Mr FIRE Station (US)
4. RB40 (US)
And coincindentally CW, Mr FIRE Station and AK71 retired in that year (2016). CW was 60, AK71 was 45 and Mr FIRE Station was 49.
I felt comforted and even emboldened. I had just achieved FI then, and was looking for direction.
Two years later (2018) after ensuring the passive cash flow was not a fluke, I tendered. But fate has other plans for me. Not only did I not retire (the CEO persuaded me to stay), my employment was granted a 5 year extension just this year!
Learnt a few useful tips from Jacob. The key one is always to have a cash buffer. Like him, we have put aside 2 to 3 years of cash buffer. And thanks to the current high interest rate environment, the cash is parked into FDs, SSBs and T-bills.
Jacob has been selfless in his sharings. He said it like it is. No sugar coating.
May he rest in eternal peace! God bless his soul.
mysecretinvestment,
DeleteWhen I returned back to Singapore after 7 years overseas late 2011, that was the year I started walking down the mountain age 44 as a Man of Leisure (actually Man Friday caregiver).
I soon discovered its quite lonely as almost everyone else in the community were all about sharing their FIRE goals and plans for climbing up the mountain...
What a relief when CW and AK also stopped climbing up the mountain 4/5 years later.
AK made me feel less sheepish playing my Epic Seven mobile gacha game in my 40s... Hey! I'm not the only man-child!
CW and I met up and shared tales how we spent our free time. It really is extremely boring when there's nothing to do!!!
My "escape" was to return to my roots and work weekends to poke and flirt with the customers on the selling floor to keep me young.
Meanwhile, CW walked round the whole freaking Singapore island!!! Was even interviewed in the press for the number of steps achieved ;)
He also introduced me to a delivery app where he earned pocket change making parcel deliveries on the side. So cool! And we laughed ourselves silly over the "naughty" stuffs that were delivered. Ha ha!
I am thankful to CW. He was already an established Titan in the blogosphere when nobody me suddenly appeared to argue with the STOP sign.
I remember "triggering" a few young bloggers. LOL!
I quickly stopped and became more selective when commenting at other people's blogs since.
But CW is different!
I guess it takes a bit more maturity to see through I'm merely playing the Socratic Method game - or what I call Zen combat - to trust but verify our own levels of "enlightenment".
We sharpen our swords by going against the grindstone.
That's how the two tiny dots in the Tao symbol tag-team started.
I lost someone close 3 weeks ago.
When CW shared his condition in the previous post, I quickly shared my goodbye to him.
You are now free CW!
Have fun and enjoy your ultimate freedom!!!
Omg, 5 years in a blink of an eye. Seems like only yesterday we spoke and Uncle CW always posted the nicest and friendliest comments.... not like you, haha!
ReplyDeleteJes,
DeleteWelcome back from hibernation!!!
Well, somebody has to play the "bad cop" role mah ;)
Just went to your blog. Congrats!
When your new store at Holland V opens, drop me a note. I'll come support your attas kacang puteh.
Oh! Do say hello to "coffee, tea, or me" for me.
Is he still with you?
Or have your upgraded to a newer model?
Don't hit the face!
Still as charming as ever! Going for the bad uncle look ah...
DeleteThanks for reading my new post ah, not sure if I will be fully back from hibernation. Had to comment with Uncle CW newfound "freedom", then went to read all his comments on my blog.....sigh.
I upgraded from kopi to espresso, what about you? ;)
Jes,
DeleteThis watering hole you're welcomed to come and go as you wish ;)
Me?
I've regressed.
From big jie-jie, to jie-jie, to mei-mei, to xiao mei-mei???
I caught myself enjoying Aespa, IVE, and ITZY MTVs during the weekends on the selling floor (TV section opposite my counter)
I think I better control myself.
Wait I become like the Dalai Lama!
Shh....
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteI am shocked and saddened to see the news of UncleCW8888's passing only now.
The blogosphere will not be the same without him. Your "pokings" and banters with him are so fun to read and at the same time thought-provoking. He's the rare few that dare to poke you with no glove actually and fully qualified too!
Uncle8888 will be dearly missed.
Rainbow girl,
DeleteThat's how CW and I "no beat no become friends" ;)
It helps that we don't take ourselves too seriously too!
We are complete opposites.
CW is precision at 2 decimal places; I agar agar can oredi!
He is koala bear specialist with SGX stocks only (his attempt at HK tech stocks was too funny to poke); I jack-of-all-trades with my multi-asset classes and citizen of the world outlook.
He quite IT savvy; I IT dinosaur...
But we have one thing in common that helps cement the bond between us:
We both have lost and made big money.
When we met and "showed-off" the battle scars on our bodies, we knew and respected each other as "veterans".
We don't spin theories (what we plan to do); we share experiences with track records.