Righting Wrongs in St. Paul
In April 2018, I wrote about the wide, wonderful world of freeway caps (update: OZY very publicly went out of business in 2021 and this article is no longer available online) , also known as highway lids (because, of course, not every limited-access roadway is free to...
Two Safety Nets for the Price of One
According to FDIC data, about one in seven Americans is underbanked, meaning they rely on expensive, potentially predatory financial products and services like payday loans and prepaid debit cards. Approximately 7% of Americans is totally unbanked. They're cash...
You Need a Plan
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not much of a planner. I'm fortunate to live with someone who, among many other wonderful qualities, is an above-replacement planista. It's not at all clear to me where I'd be without her. That's not why you're reading...
What Did We Get Ourselves Into?
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house /With a beautiful wife /And you may ask yourself, well /How did I get here? /The Talking Heads captured the zeitgeist better than their contemporaries, but they didn't have a crystal ball. They couldn't imagine that,...
Your IP Won’t Protect Itself
First off, some sad news: the last issue of Minnesota Business magazine has rolled off the digital presses. Minnesota Business was, in the words of former editor-in-chief Steve LeBeau, the Twin Cities' true "community business" monthly: an inclusive, supportive...
There’s No Wrong Answer Here
How many credit cards do you carry in your wallet? Do you have any other active card accounts lurking in a lockbox or secure filing cabinet at home? In a Money Crashers post a few years back, I gamed out multiple answers to a question that you've probably wondered at...
Timelier Than Your Average Deep Dive
Most of my work for Money Crashers is evergreen, meant to last for months or years without going out of style. With a few tweaks, my piece on safety tips for international travelers will probably be useful a decade from now. Barring some catastrophic change in lending...
3 Fam 3 Biz
There's not much about my work that I actively dislike. If you put me on the spot and asked me to name the one part of the job I could do without, I'd finger those long, silent stretches spent wrangling staccato thoughts into fluent sentences. I'm not the only solo...
How I Finally Learned to Say ‘No’
Years ago, I worked for a national quick-serve restaurant chain. My home shop was among the system's busiest – a real hive of busy work. During rushes, the back of the house was chaotic beyond description, but I thrived there. I took pride in being the first to pipe...
Fear?
I managed to avoid political reporting until 2018, when I published a series of candidate profiles and issue pieces for OZY. Some of my conclusions held up better than others. (Unfortunately, OZY very publicly collapsed in 2021, so none of these articles are available...