In 2004, I attended a talk by Margaret Heffernan at a business women’s club in Milan. She was launching her then new book, The Naked Truth, and one of the key lessons she shared was that we all should be striving to earn “walk-away money” – the amount of money you’d need to safely walk away… Continue reading Fuck-you money
Category: bio
Doing it tough: California lockdown 2020
Translation for my non-Aussie readers: “Doing it tough” is an Australian expression that roughly means “to do something that is hard” (sometimes willingly, sometimes not), as in: “Melbourne has been doing it tough with lockdowns.” The Gregg-Straughan household also knows a thing or two about doing hard lockdown: we did it for eight months last… Continue reading Doing it tough: California lockdown 2020
US healthcare: hazardous to your health
When I got my first non-temporary job in the US, I had health insurance, but I soon started to experience the pains of for-profit healthcare. I was recently returned from study abroad in India, with lingering exotic health problems requiring expensive testing, which I had to pay up front and then wait to be reimbursed.… Continue reading US healthcare: hazardous to your health
Exotic Pets
When I was growing up in Bangkok 1967-71, one of my favorite places to go was the Saturday-Sunday Market. It was big even then, with sections devoted to food (the smell of dried fish raises warm memories for me), housewares, clothing, and live animals. I don’t know now whether any of those animals were intended… Continue reading Exotic Pets
Pink Wedding: Decorating & Setup
“There having been some days in preparation, a splendid time is guaranteed for all…” Having a home-grown wedding is a lot of fun, as well as a lot of work. The final efforts for setup and decoration reminded me strongly of the parties, dances, open houses, fairs, and festivals that we used to organize at… Continue reading Pink Wedding: Decorating & Setup