Reflections of a restless eccentric

My parents are diametric opposites in several aspects. And I, having inherited traits from both of them, by nature and nurture, at times find two contradicting points of view in my head both of which I can understand and relate to. I switch between the two frequently, and reassure myself that it gives me a balanced perspective on life. (There are times when this drives me crazy, but I'll leave that story for another day.) In this article, I'll share with you their individual perspectives on finances, and how that has shaped my own financial thinking. My father is a man of numbers. When I was in first grade, he called me over to the computer that he'd newly bought, and opened up Excel. He took a piece of paper, and wrote down a formula while I stared at it cluelessly. If there is one thing you should remember for your entire life, it is this. This is the power of compounding. He proceeded to enter the formula in Excel and demonstrated to me how an initial paltry sum could g

 I've had so many electrical issues in the past year that I've decided to give it its own series. These stories will be told from a strange mix of viewpoints--debugging and ranting. Take from it whatever you like. :) On Monday evening, I unlocked the door to my home with a feeling of trepidation. We'd gone away for the weekend, and I was going to be home alone this week. Added to that, given the history of snafus we've had, I didn't know what I'd be greeted by when I came home. My mind had conjured up all kinds of disasters, and I was bracing myself for the worst. But as I opened the door and stepped in, nothing seemed to be amiss. I wandered around all three rooms cautiously, looking for things gone awry. The light and fan in the bedroom were both on, and God knows how long they had been on. (For those uninitiated to my electrical woes- No, we had not left them on by mistake. This is an extremely sporadic and irreproducible bug in my house. Or maybe it's a