Not pedantic (ok fine I am the most hideously anal-retentive editor you’ve ever met! That’s why I get the big bucks :) but you are working so hard and so well toward being an excellent writer, and we’re your first line of feedback.

On a related note, one of my favorite movie lines is in Spanglish when the grandmother says “Lately, your low self-esteem is just good common sense!”

But it’s good to know that I’m surrounded by many others here who are also searching for ways to make our lives better while making OURSELVES better. I appreciate that you’re sharing with us ways to improve our lives financially and also taking the time to help us grow personally through introspection.

Keep up the good work!

At times, it is disheartening. At other times, it is exciting.

I would say that is a good idea to ground yourself. But if you are already pessimistic, don’t worry about others!

There are lots of good guides: “Lapsing into a Comma,” by Bill Walsh; “Eats, Shoots & Leaves,” by Lynne Truss; as well as the good old “Elements of Style” by Strunk and White.

Thank you for all of your insightful posts. I have learned a lot from The Simple Dollar.

I partially disagree with this statement. For the majority of the population we very much have control over our health. Vigorous exercise and a healthy diet can do wonders for the body as we get older. Or any age for that matter.

Could you explain what you mean by this or am I reading it wrong?

Having struggled through an awkward childhood plagued with ridicule, I came to a startling realization at about age 16. I was suddenly above average in everything I considered important. I had lost weight and could perform most physical endeavors with undreamt of endurance and grace. My acne had cleared up, and I had finally come to believe it when people said I was pretty. My ACT scores were in the 97th percentile, and my GPA was among the top 15 percent at my school. Best of all, I had overcome crippling shyness and learned to get along with just about anyone.

Then somewhere in my 30s, I realized I had lost many of these advantages. I was seriously overweight and out of shape. My skin had lost that youthful radiance and was starting to wrinkle and sag. Because of mental illness, my intelligence and competency were slipping. The medication I took for bipolar disorder made me extremely uncomfortable in groups, and I felt incapable of controlling myself in social settings.

At some point, I had to take stock of myself and realize it didn’t matter that I was no longer above average. We come into this world unable to do much of anything, and we will all return to that state if we live long enough. I have to enjoy what I am capable of doing now and improve what I can. Even if I end up being below average or absolutely terrible at most things, I have to love myself for who I am, who I was and who I might yet be. Comparing myself with others will get me nowhere unless I acknowledge that I don’t have to keep up with anyone or anything in order to be happy.

It’s thin ice at best, I guess. Having self-esteem and confidence vs. being narcissistic and cocky. Take it all with a pinch of salt and a healthy dose of modesty and society would be much better.

That and I do consider myself a better driver than average… I have the courtesy to everyone else to NOT talk on my phone, eat, put on makeup, etc while I’m driving with YOU. I drive and only drive, maybe have music playing but never very loud…. Is it really too much to ask for people to pay attention when driving?! (Just throwing it out there…. I know I rub a lot of people the wrong way. I blame my age. There goes the confidence. Or cockiness. Suppose it depends on point of view.)

In my case, if you take the subscriber count for your blog as a measure, after 2+ years of running my blog, all my illusions of superiority have justifiably disappeared… :-)

I sure hope that I don’t come off as overly pedantic (which means I will), BUT I feel that this is worth correcting, since statistics is so often misunderstood but so often encountered in day-to-day life. Please take this in the spirit of trying to help (rather than jumping down your throat).

You said “50% of drivers think they are better than average. This is obviously not possible”

Actually, it is quite possible. Consider the following example. Take 100 drivers, each that drive for one year. 99 drivers get in zero accidents in that year and 1 driver gets in 100 accidents in that year. Over the course of that year the “average” driver got in 1 accident. Thus, there are 99 drivers (99%) That are above “average.”

This just serves to highlight the difficulties in quoting and interpreting statistics. There is a lot of “common sense” that gets in the way of correctly gaining information from the statistics that one is presented with on a daily basis. Granted, the example that I used was an extreme case, but I think the point is quite valid. This is why it is always nice to see other statistical information (ie. standard deviation, median, etc) along with the average (mean).

Subscriber count may have relevance to how successful the blog becomes, but it is not a factor in how well you write. Many other factors are involved in the blog: interest in the subject, style of the blogger, overall feeling of credibility, and others.

I love this blog and follow you daily. Keep up the great work, even if you do occasionally use an incorrect form here and there.