Photo by h.koppdelaney

I received some sad news this past week - one of my former coworkers died suddenly on his long commute home from work.  Thank God he pulled over to the side of the road, or he probably would have taken some other poor slobs with him (he lived in the Bronx).

The sad part was that he lived alone, with no wife or kids.  Another guy who worked with him thought it was sad that he’ll leave no trace of himself to carry on.  He was a gruff-sounding guy, probably due to his 2-pack-a-day smoking habit.  But he was a good person underneath his hard exterior.  He coached Little League baseball, even though he had no kids of his own, and he always helped me when I needed it.  I know I’ll miss him.

The passing of someone I know always leads me to confront my own mortality.  I’ve taken better care of myself this week, regarding my eating, exercise, and sleeping habits.  I’ve also immersed myself in some positive reading:

Passive Family Income shows us how he makes money on eHow.  I’ve never tried writing for eHow, but he makes a strong case.

Beks at Blogging Away Debt got some positive feedback for a job well done.  Nice job!

Blunt Money is longing for a vacation.  Head over there and share your vacation plans.

Srinivas has a guest post at Dumb Little Man about living your best life.  Learning to work on our positive qualities can greatly improve our lives.

Trent at The Simple Dollar asks for our best career advice in ten words or less. My advice was: The harder assignments are the most interesting and rewarding.

Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme talks about myths and the future.  This is a thoughtful post, and sure to stir up your gray matter.

Jason at Bible Money Matters asks if we continue to pray when things go bad.  The post asks some good questions about appreciating what we have, and is a good read even if you’re not religious.

Steve at Brip Blap has re-engineered his thinking.  He’s learning to enjoy the process rather than focusing on the end game.

Ian at Ian’s Messy Desk offers tips for choosing a good password.  He focuses on phrases that only have meaning to you.

Scott H. Young tells us why he’s not trying to build passive income.  He talks about realistic entrepreneurial goals, and how working may br the easiest way to earn money.

The Ririan Project dicusses why worrying about a problem is no way to fix it.  He tells us to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.

Erin at Unclutterer tells us to do it now!  She talks about the two-minute rule and how to deal with email.  Some good tips.

PaidTwice presents the case for debt elimination over savings.  This is the way we attacked our credit card debt.

Paul at Wise Bread tells us to walk-walk-walk.  I find that a good walk wakes up my brain.

Jim at Bargaineering wants to know what your favorite finance book is.  I’m going with Your Money or Your Life.

Have a great weekend!

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