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100 Tips for Prospective 2017 AT Thru-hikers

    • Tip 99: Your Pies Of Life from Datto's Tips v2.0 -- your Career Pie Slice

      Just to wrap this up -- here's one of the many websites showing income levels compared to career choice and education level. What's interesting is the ramp up of compensation (or not) from entry-level to mid-career and the increased compensation levels (or not) between different education levels and lifetime compensation. True, this may include country-wide data so larger metro areas are going to be more heavily weighted but the relative compensation between education level/career choice is certainly interesting. This is particularly so for someone such as an AT thru-hiker who's just come out of college or is in the midst of getting their degree.

      The drop down box on the left allows selection/de-selection of individual lines of work for a particular general career choice (labeled Major Grouping on the chart).

      payscale.com/college-salary-re…-majors-lifetime-earnings


      Datto

    • From a previous Datto post...

      "Because I know this language problem of mine is a considerable weakness, I don't accept positions in companies where there is a large employee population of people from India who I'll need to interact with on a daily basis."

      Placing oneself in a different cultural setting can promote personal development and expand one's view of the world.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • Dan76 wrote:

      Placing oneself in a different cultural setting can promote personal development and expand one's view of the world.
      If only time was not such a luxury.

      I've not had any problems working with Russians, Germans, French and Iranians and have traveled quite a bit of the world.

      Frequently when I arrive at a job interview, a big bad thing has already occurred at the company or is about to occur and time and teamwork are of the essence. I've had to realize I can't help everyone so I pick and choose, for my own specific benefit, where I can do the most good and avoid those places/companies where I'm hampered by internals at a company. My language problems preventing me from quickly understanding individuals who grew up in India is just one of many criteria I use to determine whether I want to join a company or not. That important part I've mentioned above about knowing your own strengths and weaknesses has paid off well for me -- I've received quite a few significant awards and accolades from Fortune 1000 companies, along with the financial benefits of being able to succeed with big things at large companies. Plus, I've realized I'm not in the business of maximizing my experience with cultural settings -- I'm in the business of helping companies and getting paid well for doing so.

      As far as different cultural settings beyond all the nationalities I've had as teammates -- Ha, I won't mention much about the woman I worked with who came to work dressed as a witch -- even in July. Or the burly bearded guy who came to work everyday in a dress. Those were two of the smartest people I've had the pleasure to have worked with at large companies and their individual efforts were instrumental in the success of their companies as well as my own personal career success. It only took just a few minutes of conversation before I had realized their value to the company, regardless of their appearance (although it did have me wondering in the first five minutes with each of them what I had gotten myself into at certain companies). Since then, I've learned not to worry much about anyone's appearance or chosen lifestyle anymore -- it's more whether they match what I know is needed, particularly with regard to time, and whether they're motivated.

      My problems with understanding languages/accents had me once telling a woman from New Zealand that I didn't understand what she had just said to a group of eight of us. Her response was, "Welllllll, I will repeat it again for everyone just so Captain America can join along with the rest of us." Then she repeated everything she had just said -- only as John Wayne. That got me cracking up laughing along with the rest of the people present. She was quite the comedienne.


      Datto

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Datto ().

    • Astro wrote:

      Probably should not start a really long post with describing time as a luxury.
      Word says that post was 436 words and I type at 125 wpm. From my standpoint (even with typos, diction corrections and watching an ID network recorded show) I didn't spend much time responding to Dan76's post.

      Maybe I should introduce you to Evelyn Wood material? Possibly the audio cassettes may work best for you.
      amazon.com/Evelyn-Seven-Day-Re…ing-Program/dp/1566194024



      Datto

    • max.patch wrote:

      just realized that the title of this thread:

      100 Tips for Prospective 2017 AT Thru-hikers

      doesn't state anywhere that the tips have to be about hiking. now it all makes sense.
      From some of the posts I thought I was reading Investor's Business Daily or maybe the Wall Street Journal. Or maybe Datto was just trying to put me sleep with all that wordage zzzzzz.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      From some of the posts I thought I was reading Investor's Business Daily or maybe the Wall Street Journal. Or maybe Datto was just trying to put me sleep with all that wordage zzzzzz.

      Our financial survival after an AT thru-hike hinges on one thing -- finding someone who not only can fly this plane, but didn’t have fish for dinner. Municipal bonds jimmyjam. I’m talking AA Rating.

      I'll get Mrs. Cleaver in here to translate.




      Datto

    • meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i had a slice of pie yesterday. sweet potato.
      I invested in a hydro electric plant last Thurs, sold this morning and lost $400 dollars and fees...I should just had a slice a pie.
      I rarely try to time the market. I use dollar cost averaging and buy funds with low management fees or I buy dividend paying stocks direct and reinvest the dividends.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i had a slice of pie yesterday. sweet potato.
      I invested in a hydro electric plant last Thurs, sold this morning and lost $400 dollars and fees...I should just had a slice a pie.
      I rarely try to time the market. I use dollar cost averaging and buy funds with low management fees or I buy dividend paying stocks direct and reinvest the dividends.
      Vanguard Index Funds, not sexy but all you need to know for the little guys who want the best shot at not going bust.

    • SandyofPA wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i had a slice of pie yesterday. sweet potato.
      I invested in a hydro electric plant last Thurs, sold this morning and lost $400 dollars and fees...I should just had a slice a pie.
      I rarely try to time the market. I use dollar cost averaging and buy funds with low management fees or I buy dividend paying stocks direct and reinvest the dividends.
      Vanguard Index Funds, not sexy but all you need to know for the little guys who want the best shot at not going bust.
      +1. One of my favorites.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • SandyofPA wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      meat wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      i had a slice of pie yesterday. sweet potato.
      I invested in a hydro electric plant last Thurs, sold this morning and lost $400 dollars and fees...I should just had a slice a pie.
      I rarely try to time the market. I use dollar cost averaging and buy funds with low management fees or I buy dividend paying stocks direct and reinvest the dividends.
      Vanguard Index Funds, not sexy but all you need to know for the little guys who want the best shot at not going bust.
      Yup, I like me some vanguard.

    • There is no doubt Vanguard is the place for 99% of all Americans. Low fees, well managed, just the best place for most people investing in mutual funds. jimmyjam's idea of dollar cost averaging is the way to go for almost everyone.

      For the other 1% who have dated the racy girls in school or for the girls who chased the bad boys in school --

      There is trading.

      Most people who trade do so with separate accounts from investing versus trading. And they never combine the two (in order to reduce personal financial risk). I've used TDAmeritrade or ETrade for most of my trading.

      People who do trading tend to use fundamental analysis or technical analysis or a combination of both.

      The difference is described here:

      investopedia.com/ask/answers/131.asp

      Keep in mind, almost all of those who dally in trading lose their ass right away. After licking their wounds, they go back to Vanguard or similar. Trading isn't for everyone. It's a tough and risky business.

      If you want to tiptoe into intelligent trading via technical analysis there's no better way than analyzing the information coming to you via Worden Brothers.

      worden.com

      Excellent tools (TC2000 is the software), excellent on-line training, excellent free classroom training (in major metro areas).

      I've been with Worden Brothers for decades. The software download is free and the first month is usually free (after signup with a credit card) and monthly charges after that are $29.95 per month via auto-charge on a credit card. Probably the best $29.95 per month I've ever spent on trading. If you go on a long hike, you can do a hold on your account if you're not intending to trade during your hike (I've called them, told them I'm going on another hike, they stop charging my account until I get back and call them again to start back up).

      It's the free classroom training (spanning a calendar day or two in major metro areas -- breakfast included) that has been so valuable to me. Lots of useful techniques to consider from a technical trading standpoint. Easily, for me, translating into higher profits.

      Also, a couple of frequented websites for technical traders are Reverend Shark and Harry Boxer:

      sharkinvesting.com (has a Monday morning trading suggestion for free)
      marketwatch.com/trading-deck/stories?authorId=10886

      Some of the Worden classroom training session I've taken have included in-person training directly from Harry Boxer (who has been a scream in hilarity during the classes I've taken where he was one of the instructors).

      Check the Worden Brothers website if you're interested in technical analysis training/trading.

      Oh geez, I better stop here before Astro claims I'm using up all the bandwidth going into the vast Joe Bobs of Texas.


      Datto

    • meat wrote:

      Tell me about Roth ira's
      I learned the hard way you can only fund a Roth with earned income. I was on unemployment one year and just put in my limit for the year in Aug. I did not get another assignment that year and I had not made the limit in gross income. I had to take the overage back out the next year and pay a 10 percent(of the overage) fine to the IRS on my taxes. Unemployment is taxable but not investable for retirement.

    • SandyofPA wrote:

      meat wrote:

      Tell me about Roth ira's
      I learned the hard way you can only fund a Roth with earned income. I was on unemployment one year and just put in my limit for the year in Aug. I did not get another assignment that year and I had not made the limit in gross income. I had to take the overage back out the next year and pay a 10 percent(of the overage) fine to the IRS on my taxes. Unemployment is taxable but not investable for retirement.
      good to know...I was not aware of that either.

    • Datto wrote:

      Most people who trade do so with separate accounts from investing versus trading. And they never combine the two (in order to reduce personal financial risk). I've used TDAmeritrade or ETrade for most of my trading.

      Just to clarify and expand on this (as a part of your Financial Pie Slice in Tip 99: Your Pies Of Life), for everyone in the workforce who has access to a 401k account (or similar) from their employer, they should be maximizing contributions to that 401k account first as a retirement/investment account (up to the maximum amount allowed per year). Reasons:

      1) There is usually a matching amount the employer kicks in which becomes yours after the vesting period of time expires and you're still employed at that company ( the time period and terms vary from employer to employer)
      2) You're probably not paying immediate federal taxes on the amount you contribute from your paycheck to the 401k account
      3) You're probably not paying immediate federal taxes on the amount your employer contributes as a matching amount to the 401k account
      4) You're probably not paying immediate federal taxes on the profits the 401k investment makes while the money is sitting long-term in the 401k account

      Of course there will be taxes when the money is later withdrawn from the 401k during retirement. But still, the potential benefits from a 401k account are immense for an employee -- so no one should miss out on the 401k opportunity if it is available and contributing doesn't put you into a situation where you can't pay your normal monthly household bills on time.

      The next best thing to do after funding a 401k account is to pay off all high-interest-rate credit cards -- once the balance is zero on high-interest-rate credit cards, keep paying off any new charges when the monthly bill arrives.

      If there's money available after those two things are accomplished, then other options become available, one of which is getting a trading account started if that is a desire. Keep in mind though, that trading account money is likely at a significantly higher risk than normal so it's not an appropriate avenue for most people. Plus the fact that to get trading going successfully a person has to like reading and analyzing and spending significant time educating themselves -- most people don't like doing that at the level successful trading requires (they'd rather spend time with their spouse and kids, play golf, go hiking, go skiing).

      Many people who are successful traders from home or who are in the workforce don't usually sit in front of their computer all day long watching the market go up and down. They'll figure out the process of investigation and placing trades (after educating themselves over a considerable period of time) then usually place their trades in the morning with a buy point and a sell stop put in automatically with a compound trade (where the buy point and the sell point are submitting together). No one in their right mind places trades before 10:00am ET on a Monday morning and normally not before 9:45am ET most other days. Then they go about their life for the rest of the day and come back in the afternoon to see if any of their trades were executed and how things went after the trade happened. Following that, they'll do their research for the trades coming up the next day or next week and close out the day. The next morning they usually wake up, look over what happened in the markets overnight, confirm again the trades they're intending to do for the day and get those submitted.

      This is where the trading analysis software, if you're mainly a technical trader (software such as TC2000 mentioned above), comes into play. That helps to shrink the analysis time down to a small effort since you can tell the analysis software ahead of time what criteria you're looking for and have the software just list out every company stock that matches that criteria. From that you determine which companies on the list are good candidates, determine a good entry point and a good exit point if the trade goes bad and then place the compound trade(s).


      Datto

      The post was edited 9 times, last by Datto ().

    • Datto wrote:


      Oh geez, I better stop here before Astro claims I'm using up all the bandwidth going into the vast Joe Bobs of Texas.


      Datto
      Hey I worked in Texas for over 20 years and met a lot of good people, but no Joe Bob's. There is a Billy Bob's though. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Datto wrote:

      One of the many smokin' American foxes here at the Cabin, looking longingly at the AT GA-ME symbol on the back of the Datmobile.

      That hot American fox is saying, "I coulda hike zat swingin' AT hot spot someday."


      Datto




      The fox looks bigger than what I imagined and it's tail is so bushy.
      I heard a vixen once when camping by Slickrock creek that initially scared me, sounded like a screaming woman.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • RE: All this speed-hiking nonsense on the Appalachian Trail:

      It is the bastardization of the ideals from the founders of the Appalachian Trail that is so disheartening.

      Speed hiking is precisely the type of activity the founders of the Appalachian Trail were wanting the citizenry to escape. The bigger, badder, faster parts of Society. The AT was envisioned to allow citizens to escape from that -- even for a short period of time. To allow centering once more and to connect again with Nature.

      Yet the feeble leadership of the Appalachian Trail still remains silent to the encroachment.

      As usual.

      What a piss-poor group of losers currently in-charge.

      Soon we'll have a monetization of the Appalachian Trail. It'll be a $15 charge to stay in a shelter overnight all up the Trail -- surely the brainchild of an admired beancounting do-gooder who gets themself in-charge. Hail the cost/benefit Caesar!

      Carnival barkers extolling the attributes of a motel chain up ahead. Billboards showing a secret discount code from TNF for the next generation of sleeping bag. VR headsets available at the shelters to show the Trail up ahead in precise detail along with other conversational entertainment at $2.50 per minute. Somebody's drone swarm going off to get coffee at McDonald's for the new girlfriend in the tent rather than the parliament of owls waking you to the new day.

      By the way, to my knowledge the validated record for an Appalachian Trail thru-hike is 365 days. Some trail miser may take-on that record during a leap year in order to make it 366 days.

      I sure hope so.


      Datto

    • Datto wrote:

      RE: All this speed-hiking nonsense on the Appalachian Trail:

      It is the bastardization of the ideals from the founders of the Appalachian Trail that is so disheartening.

      Speed hiking is precisely the type of activity the founders of the Appalachian Trail were wanting the citizenry to escape. The bigger, badder, faster parts of Society. The AT was envisioned to allow citizens to escape from that -- even for a short period of time. To allow centering once more and to connect again with Nature.

      Yet the feeble leadership of the Appalachian Trail still remains silent to the encroachment.

      As usual.

      What a piss-poor group of losers currently in-charge.

      Soon we'll have a monetization of the Appalachian Trail. It'll be a $15 charge to stay in a shelter overnight all up the Trail -- surely the brainchild of an admired beancounting do-gooder who gets themself in-charge. Hail the cost/benefit Caesar!

      Carnival barkers extolling the attributes of a motel chain up ahead. Billboards showing a secret discount code from TNF for the next generation of sleeping bag. VR headsets available at the shelters to show the Trail up ahead in precise detail along with other conversational entertainment at $2.50 per minute. Somebody's drone swarm going off to get coffee at McDonald's for the new girlfriend in the tent rather than the parliament of owls waking you to the new day.

      By the way, to my knowledge the validated record for an Appalachian Trail thru-hike is 365 days. Some trail miser may take-on that record during a leap year in order to make it 366 days.

      I sure hope so.


      Datto
      see ya lost me on the parliament of owls waking me up. :D

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      You sure get hit on a lot.

      Pearson found that scrap of paper with that horny Apache woman's phone number a few months ago. We'd laughed for a half an hour.

      I should call up the phone number of that Apache woman right now. I can't do $2.50 a minute stuff but I'm sure I could get steam coming out the top of her teepee (if'n you know what I mean -- VaVoom).


      Datto