Starbucks Credit Card Review

Starbucks and Chase have teamed up on a new credit card, the Starbucks Rewards Visa Card, that allows cardholders to increase the rewards they receive in the Starbucks Rewards program. Is this new Starbucks credit card for you? Read on…

Annual Fee

Before we look at the features of the Starbucks Visa, it makes sense to discuss the fact that this card has a $49 annual fee. We find this surprising, because we think the card offers less than many other credit cards on the market that do not charge annual fees. Starbucks and Chase are chasing away potential customers with that fee — is it intentional, to narrow the cardholder community to only the most rabid Starbucks fans, or is it just poorly thought out?

You’ve seen the studies showing that sitting for long periods could be chopping years from your life, and you’ve decided it’s time to go for one of those standing desks. But which one?

The options are endless, from beautiful, expensive bamboo-topped wonders with electronic, adjustable raising/lowering, to cheap, functional designs, to converters you stick on top of an existing desk when you want to stand. Which to choose depends on how much you want to pay and how committed you are to the idea of a standing desk.

This list of “best” standing desks offers you a variety of desks that are very good for their price points. Not every one is the luxury Mercedes of standing desks (though some are), but all should make you feel good about your purchase.

Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk – At a starting price of $395 or $475 (depending on style), this desk isn’t cheap, but there is a good reason it sits on just about every “best of” list when it comes to standing desks. It’s nice to look at, it’s adjustable (electronically, no hand crank), and it’s solid with little-to-no wobble. The adjustability of this desk means you can use it for standing or sitting as you prefer. (You’re not going to want to stand all the time.) And, in actuality, the price isn’t bad for the quality of the desk, but be careful — this company will try to upsell you on accessories and add-ons that aren’t really necessary. The standard 48″ x 30″ size is perfect for most people, but you can get it as large as 72″ x 30″.

What movies make you want to get out there and make something happen? We’re not just talking about great stories of overcoming long odds, but instead movies that make YOU want to do something NOW! Below we offer our list of the 7 best motivational movies of all time:

Rocky – There’s a reason people are still running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, pretending to be Rocky 40+ years later. Even if you hate boxing, the idea of working your butt off to contend on a level where no one believes you have a chance is super motivating. When you are done with Rocky, you are ready to get outside and start being GREAT.

The Shawshank Redemption – Even when you are literally trapped, never stop looking for a way out. Tim Robbins stars as a man sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, who then becomes rather valuable to a corrupt warden. Morgan Freeman is Robbins’ jailhouse friend (and movie narrator) in a memorable role.

By Adam Jusko, georgica.net, adam@georgica.net

My wife and I have different last names, both of us choosing to keep our own last names when we married. (Although we toyed with taking on a new, outlandish last name for both of us to share, like PowerMaster.) Other than the occasional rude question about why we would have such a strange arrangement (some people are stuck in the 1950s apparently), it rarely raises an eyebrow.

Except on the financial end. After all these years of spouses having different last names and parents having different last names than their kids (or stepkids), you’d think this wouldn’t be such an issue. But, more than once, we have had to straighten out a financial problem that occurred because of different last names and lazy administrators/professionals.

By Adam Jusko, georgica.net, adam@georgica.net

If you happened upon a listing of Jordan B. Peterson’s book 12 Rules For Life on Amazon.com or another online bookseller, you might get the impression that he is a writer in the school of Malcolm Gladwell or maybe the Freakonomics team. For example, this blurb:

“Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.”

Oh, sounds fun. Some light, entertaining reading with a little counter-intuitive self help to boot. Sign me up!

Well, if you’re like me and did not have any prior exposure to Jordan B. Peterson, you’re in for a lot more than you bargained for.

12 Rules For Life has the subtitle “An Antidote to Chaos.” That subtitle provides a more meaningful clue toward what you’re getting into here. Peterson’s world (and yours if you think hard enough about it) is one in which “things fall apart” and we need certain Rules to keep going and even thrive in the face of inevitable suffering, followed by the fact that no one here gets out alive. Or, more succinctly, life sucks and then you die.