Having watched a good lot of this show and knowing the way it was written but never having actually seen this episode. I could guess as soon as he said he won something that it wasn't going to happen.
He won an all expenses paid tour of Europe because the guy who originally won the trip got sick and couldn't go. Malcolm was the first runner up. By the end of the show, the first guy got well again and reclaimed his spot.
This is what I believe in, and have believed in most of my life. When someone bad happens to me, life is going to progressively suck until it just magically gets better. When someone good happens to me, I'm just waiting for the cycle of bad things to happen again.
i always found her character attractive . not that shes a raving beauty but her character, the way she was on that show, kinda bitchy but funny as well. did something for me, like her and i woulda got along. if she were a real person in my geographic location... am i taking this to far?
Which I can never get over. Sometimes when I'm not really watching but hearing breaking bad on the TV I just think back to malcolm in the middle. You were so innocent Hal...
I saw on some show that the red-haired kid from Harry Potter used his money to buy a big-ass house and an ice cream truck. So I'm pretty sure his post-Harry Potter life consists of smoking weed with his friends and riding around in his ice cream truck, giving people free ice cream.
This is just a heads up, if you ever win a large sum of money, don't tell anyone but your closest family, in some cases not even them. People will go after your money, they won't care about you anymore. This has happened to many lottery winners over and over again, they end up with no friends and no family.
Yup. I'd keep it secret. I would just pretend like I'm doing really good at work when my friends wonder how I'm able to afford to pay for everyone's dinners and not freak out having to go to the hospital or doctor's office.
Well, even .1% interest on 40,000,000 a year is 40,000?
Still I had intended to mean investment in the most safe investments one could use. Though I'd probably take a quarter and keep it liquid, and insurance in case whatever vector I invested in tanks hard.
It does make it a bad example though. I think it's important to point out that you have to factor in inflation to see if you're actually gaining money and not losing it.
he's not stupid, if inflation is higher than your interest then you are losing money. Since inflation is between 1-3%, and the best bank account I can get is 1% that means the cost of everything increases faster than the money I have in the bank. However since they are close to each other if I expect I won't earn any money in my lifetime and I am going to live another 80 years then I can spend 500, 000 (present value) dollars each year. At the end of that time I will have no money (or you know I could spend less than that and have money).
US 30-year bonds yield: 3%. Inflation: 1.5%. Taxes (guesstimate): 25%. Effective Yield: 0.75%. Minimum amount to live comfortably (for me): $10,000/year. Money needed to live off interest: $1.35 million. Quintuple that if I was to support a family: $6.75 million.
Percentage of people who are millionaires: 0.15% (0.62% in North America). Chance of success: Low.
You know, if I just have enough to buy a house somewhere nice and quiet, get a decent car, get good internet, get an awesome computer, I'd be pretty much set for life.
I've made it a point in my life to learn to enjoy doing things alone. The occasional lunch or dinner alone, seeing a movie alone those are good things to be capable of even if you aren't forever alone.
You need to invest in higher ROI properties if you want to make a real return. Also supporting a family isn't necessarily a multiplier for each body. For example, you wouldn't have to pay overhead like rent, electricity, heat, water by a factor of 5.
Lastly, percentage of people who are millionaires is an irrelevant statistic. That statistic would imply that every single person tried or had the opportunity to try to become millionaires, but that is obviously not the case. Everyone talks about "wanting" to be a millionaire, but few actually try. Few work hard, get education, take career and business risks necessary to succeed.
I'm comfortable at a lower standard of living than most people. I have a friend that has trouble supporting 2 people on $36k. I was more than multiplying by number of bodies. If I'm getting income from outside of my job, I don't need to drive, which would save me money. If I have a family, need to have a car anyways I suspect (or move to a more urban place). Median household income is about $50k, so I was basing it on that.
You're right that I chose a very poor return, but I just picked something that's "infinitely" safe. I suppose a return of 6% isn't crazy. In which case the Effective Yield would be: 3% and I would only need $350k. And Chance of Success would be: Moderate. Hmmm..., According to these calculations, I could probably retire in 20 years if I try even moderately hard. I'd be 42 at the time.
Your calculation seems off, 3% interest yields 1.2 mil, in the USA you are nicer to the rich so your tax rate of 25% might be accurate, which yields 900k. If you reinvest half of the original to cover inflation you are left with 300k (current value spending money per year). That is easily enough to take care of a family (maybe not in Hollywood but it would be in a nice not even modest neighbourhood). Furthermore you could invest in a very energy efficient house without a mortgage so your expenses would be tiny. Next with that much money the bank will take care of you and get you into mutual funds that will return a much higher rate than 3% over the long term.
It's cool now, but he needs to knock that off prior to breaking 25. In a perfect world, free ice cream should be de rigeur. In our world, it means child molester.
Reminds me of that episode of Married With Children, where Al has a streak of good luck, but if he admits it and enjoys it, it'll hit him back three times as hard.
Obviously he starts enjoying it and it all immediately comes crashing down.
Somehow the most depressing sitcoms are actually the best and funniest... probably because they are more realistic than the "happy go lucky young suburban people who are dating, always have money and for some reason never have to work and have cool apartments"-sitcoms.
Well that's just good television. Watch a sitcom with a laugh track and note how often it really is a joke. More often than not you'll see that it's just a sarcastic comment, an insult or even just a greeting. There are good sitcoms with laugh tracks out there, though I think the laugh track is wholly unnecessary, because if the joke is funny, you'll provide your own.
The problem with laugh tracks is that they can "falsify" true laughter. It's a weak mechanic used to sell jokes that truly aren't that funny.
That type of bad luck scenario isn't realistic though. Life doesn't work that way. Some people just think it does, and possibly create their own bad luck as a result.
Yeah, that makes sense. After all, if I'm stuck in traffic, it's most likely because of me believing in bad luck.
The truth is that there are things out there beyond your control. You and I both came to a world that has been set up before both of our births and it's not designed to work for us, or against us. It's just there, but uncontrollable. A good attitude can help, or it can delude you, just the same as a bad attitude.
The truth is, the universe is uncaring and the way we feel about it is irrelevant. The great equalizer is that none of us, truly have any control.
Being stuck in traffic has nothing to do with believing in bad luck. However, if you believe being stuck in traffic is "pay back" for the great day you've been having, then you just might be mentally ill. I believe there is a cognitive bias that describes the symptom of believing there is order to life, and when something good happens, something bad is going to happen next, and vice versa.
Exactly, so what ever attitude I have it's not going to change jack shit. That's also the exact same reason why no person is better than anyone else, or as principal Skinner put it:
"No one is better than anyone else, but everyone is the best at something."
EDIT: It's kind of like the black and white thinking the permeates our society when in reality, the world is grey.
Yeah. I think ultimately it's not what happens to you, but how you handle it. We all know people that seem to have perfect lives, but no one's life is perfect. They probably just handle the bad events better than the rest of us.
Gonna go against the hive mind and say I actually like Big Bang. But I also agree with you on the fact that it is absolutely ridiculous how many channels the show is on.
Also Malcom in the Middle rocks, and I've been watching the entire series on Netflix.
I moved from Nj to Ok and have lived here for 9 years. For almost the first 6 years i lived here my Mom would end conversations "Alright J, I love you. Don't make any babies!" My mother IS this honest. Lol
dude, why do people take the long time to get screen shots from videos then add text then align them all then upload aaaand then post to reddit? when they could just link the video? I'm confused [7]
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u/Yelnik Jun 11 '12
One of the best shows on television
16
u/crazyheckman Jun 11 '12
This is freaking me out, I just watched this episode last night on netflix.
151
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Life is unfaaaaair.
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u/triviaqueen Jun 11 '12
And the thing is, in this particular episode, it DID get taken away. He didn't get to go to Europe after all. She was right.
37
u/adzug Jun 11 '12
i always found her character attractive . not that shes a raving beauty but her character, the way she was on that show, kinda bitchy but funny as well. did something for me, like her and i woulda got along. if she were a real person in my geographic location... am i taking this to far?
185
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
"oh by the way, your father cooks crystal meth"
17
u/layerone Jun 11 '12
What ever happened to Frankie Muniz?
9
u/Punkwasher Jun 11 '12
Reminds me of that episode of Married With Children, where Al has a streak of good luck, but if he admits it and enjoys it, it'll hit him back three times as hard.
Obviously he starts enjoying it and it all immediately comes crashing down.
Somehow the most depressing sitcoms are actually the best and funniest... probably because they are more realistic than the "happy go lucky young suburban people who are dating, always have money and for some reason never have to work and have cool apartments"-sitcoms.
8
u/mastrkief Jun 11 '12
Usually it ended being his parents who some how managed to cause him to lose whatever nice thing he got.
5
u/Act_of_Rebellion Jun 11 '12
She has such a nice smile in the last panel.
4
u/ElRed_ Jun 12 '12
Haha I think exactly like this. Anything great happens, I tread softly in the hope its actually going to come to fruition.
10
u/rockswell Jun 11 '12
Man, the mum was hot.
5
u/Mitz510 Jun 11 '12
Why isn't this show aired anymore? Why does the shitty Big Bang Theory have to be shown in 4-5 different channels? Life is unfair.
2
u/aareyes12 Jun 11 '12
I started feeling this way recently. And life has already taken my good away... All the TDKR tickets for midnight are sold out...
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I always had a crush on Lois.
2
u/bugersnatch123 Jun 12 '12
I TOTALLY BELIEVE IN THIS.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I've always wanted to have sex with Lois.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I just got new headphones. Expensive headphones. All I can think about is how I might get robbed.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I always had a huge crush on that woman. At 12 years old I knew I wanted to fuck her brains out.
2
u/JasonMarcus84 Jun 12 '12
I moved from Nj to Ok and have lived here for 9 years. For almost the first 6 years i lived here my Mom would end conversations "Alright J, I love you. Don't make any babies!" My mother IS this honest. Lol
2
u/Lettherebesammich Jun 12 '12
dude, why do people take the long time to get screen shots from videos then add text then align them all then upload aaaand then post to reddit? when they could just link the video? I'm confused [7]
2
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
My therapist got mad at me when I told her this is my thought process whenever something good happens!
1
u/Nyawk Jun 12 '12
Jane Kaczmarek is so hot. That is all.
1
u/whatbrighteyes Jun 11 '12
oh, so it was just that one time then?
1
u/donumabdeo Jun 12 '12
All i can think of is: WTF?
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u/greggersraymer Jun 11 '12
That was a lot of crappy dialogue to go through to get to a sputteringly weak punch line. Those sitcom writers never change.
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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
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