Tim Dowling: my year in numbers (yes, most of them involve the new dog)
I’ve had a topsy-turvy year, but the statistics prove beyond doubt that my chief distraction of 2024 was the acquisition of a small furry menace
As the year barrels toward its end, I feel in many ways as if I have survived a difficult and challenging period, worse than the year before, and the year before that, if possibly better than anything one dares expect from 2025. But impressions can be deceiving, and I find that when I’m reviewing the year gone it helps to rely on nothing but the latest and most verifiable statistics. Here, then, is my look at 2024 in cold, hard numbers.
1 New dogs acquired in 2024. Have I mentioned this at all? I’m sorry, I never wanted to become the sort of person who has a very long answer to the question, “So, how’s your dog?”, but that’s what I am. I also have 250 pictures of the dog on my phone, and I am willing to show you all of them. My only defence is that having a puppy is so time-consuming, the havoc it wreaks so comprehensive, that I have no other conversational topics – nothing else is happening to me. In that sense, having a new dog is a lot like having a baby, except that a baby won’t gnaw the skirting boards off your walls while you’re out buying milk.
Continue reading...-
Forget the 4% rule. Consider this new magic number for retirement withdrawals instead.
The economy and your own spending should drive what you take out of your retirement investments, new research says.MarketWatch - 4h -
Why Your New Year’s Resolutions Should Involve Your Interpersonal Relationships
Experts share how shifting from self-focused goals to thinking about others can have a positive impact on the year ahead.The New York Times - 2d -
I’m 51 and didn’t adjust my 403(b) and 457(b) contributions to max them out. What can I do before year-end?
‘Can I contribute $7,500 to a traditional IRA to make up some of the missed contributions?’MarketWatch - 8h -
Joe Burrow's Bengals are clearly the most dangerous potential AFC wild-card team, and the numbers prove it
Cincinnati has the makeup to shake things up in the AFC playoffs...if it can get inCBS Sports - 1d -
My answers to your most popular questions this year
From investing without losing it, to green finance and getting rich quickFinancial Times - 1d -
New details on Kazakhstan plane crash as questions emerge about Russian involvement
It's not yet clear how a plane traveling from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku crashed while trying to land in western Kazakhstan. This comes as questions emerge about Russia's involvement in the ...CBS News - 2d -
The Year in News
An election. A shooting. A solar eclipse. Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.The New York Times - 2d -
Revisiting ‘Knitting With Dog Hair’ 30 Years Later
“Knitting With Dog Hair,” a classic how-to book from the 1990s by Kendall Crolius, fueled a dedicated movement. An updated 30th anniversary edition was published this month.The New York Times - 4d -
The 12,000-Year-Old Wolves That Ate Like Dogs
Animal remains unearthed in Alaska give clues to how wolves were domesticated.The New York Times - 4d
More from The Guardian
-
Putin apologises for Azerbaijan plane crash without admitting Russia at fault
The Guardian - 6h -
Elon Musk pens German newspaper opinion piece supporting far-right AfD party
The Guardian - 6h -
Biden reportedly regrets ending re-election campaign and says he’d have defeated Trump
The Guardian - 4h -
WHO ‘appalled’ by Israel attack on northern Gaza’s last functioning major hospital
The Guardian - 2h -
At least 15 men in Gisèle Pelicot rape and assault trial appeal against convictions
The Guardian - 7h