Posts By Carter

New Boat – Scarab 215

We recently picked up a new boat. It goes completely against all of my "cheap fun" toys and how we normally spend money. To me, cheap fun as I call it, means buying an adult toy (car, boat, motorcycle, etc) used and at a good discount. This way I can drive it around for years and turn around and resell it for basically what I bought it for. Since motorized toys don't usually go to zero, there is a price point where you can own one and lose very little money on it all-the-while enjoying your purchase. This was not that purchase. scarab 215 jet boat This Scarab is a dual 150 hp engine jet boat that will leap out…

Read More

The Pitfalls of Trying to Maximize My Returns

I am currently stuck. I sit around nightly vexing over all the different ways I can invest, their returns, risk and my trying to to maximize the % return and weighing all the different options. Real estate? Should I go for single family, duplex, in-town, out of state? Maybe owning a vacation rental? Just keep it in the market? FXAIX is my favorite fund right now. Fidelity SP500 Fund. If I just look at the returns alone I would be better off in that, but then again I would like to diversify so I don't have all my eggs in one basket - as the old saying goes. I have what is lovingly called: Analysis Paralysis. I sit, calculate over…

Read More

Micro Fishing Tackle Box

So my daughter has really taken to fishing lately, which made me reminisce about how I used to enjoy fishing the small rivers for brook trout. It's really just trout, they're small, so I only need a handful of lures with me. The wife and kid were gone one day and out of boredom, decided to make a micro tackle box using an Altoids tin. My Altoids tin Micro-Fishing Tackle Box I had an extra cigar box from one of my personal favorite cigar companies. Paul Garmirian. I cut up the bottom of the box using a razor blade knife and then taking a power sander and smoothing the sides and rounding the edges. The bottom is actually just press-fit.…

Read More

Winnipesaukee Relaxing

Spent some time up at the lake, fishing, swimming and watching sunsets. Not to get all mushy, but watching the sunsets was actually a very relaxing and enjoyable event. Even during the height of the July weekends (tourist time) the lake was quite empty when the sun was going down. We would make our way out into the "broads" (the middle of the lake), cut the motor and just let the wind catch the boat broad-side and we would gently drift. Only because the wind caught us I knew we were drifting, but otherwise, no discernable movement was noticed. Even when jumping off the boat in 100+ feet of water, the force of your feet pushing against the boat would…

Read More

You are your most prized possession!

We all collect things. I think that is human nature. Items we deem are rare and valuable. We loom for them, spend lots of money on those trinkets, and care for them... Even display them. But how are you treating yourself? I find myself in this predicament. I've been working very hard at work with the transfer of ownership, working around the house, as I get put in a new brick walkway, working to make sure my daughter who cannot drive yet it's getting where she needs to be and burning the candle at both ends as I stay up late and get up early. I have collections of guns, watches, coins, etc. I clean, take care of them, and…

Read More

Straightback Mountain to Mt. Anna loop.

Another hike and another couple of mountains checked off our Belknap Range list! The parking for this hike was at the end of a dirt road. We parked and hiked a bit down what looked to be a service road. Yes, we were going down hill. Found an old metal sign along the way. It leveled out near a pond/swampy area that some beavers had overtaken and the water was flooded across the trail with no way to get across without taking off your shoes and wading through the water. Once on the other side the trail came to a T and the choice was left or right. To the right was the taller and steeper Straightback Mounting. Left was…

Read More

Whiteface Mountain

This post is actually going to be a two part series. The smallest mountain in the Belknap range we didn't make it to the top on our first attempt. A severe storm (high winds and lightning) was coming down upon us and we were trying to make it up and back before the storm hit. We reached the trail split for Piper and Whiteface and decided that the winds were picking up too fast and the radar looked like we were not going to make it and made the decision to turn around there. Whiteface Mountain's peak is only 1,664 feet and is the smallest of the peaks in the Belknap Range. The trail head is just down a dirt…

Read More
2019 CarterBrown.com | Personal Finance, Money, Adventure and Hobby Blog
×
Close