Kurt Tomlinson's Blog

Public Transportation in the Philippines Part 1

Public transportation in the Philippines was very different from what I'm used to in America. I never felt unsafe or threatened while I was there with one exception I'll talk about in the walking section below.

travel | 2015.08.23 00:00 | Kurt Tomlinson

How to Save Money on Hotels AND Know Where You Will Stay

You may or may not be familiar with Priceline's "Express Deals". Express Deals are discounted hotel rooms that come with a slight catch: you don't know exactly which hotel you're booking until after you've already paid, and they're non-refundable and non-cancellable.

life-lessons | 2015.08.16 00:00 | Kurt Tomlinson

The Currency Market Is Not for Investments

The government of a country, or the Federal Reserve Bank in the case of the United States, is able to control the value of their currency. In the US, this is done by issuing Treasury Bonds at with higher or lower interest rates. Higher interest rates generate increased demand for American Treasury Bonds.

life-lessons | 2015.08.09 00:00 | Kurt Tomlinson

Food Budget

The USDA publishes tables showing how much Americans can expect to spend on food each week. The tables are broken down by family size, gender, and age. They're further divided into four categories: thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal. These charts are updated every month. I first learned about these tables from an article about celebrities trying to live like they were on food stamps.

life-lessons | 2015.08.02 00:00 | Kurt Tomlinson

MERS and Epidemic Curves: Followup

In a post published June 21, 2015, I said I hoped that Korea would be MERS-free by the time I arrived in Korea for my trip this August. Good news! South Korea says the MERS threat is no more. There hasn't been a new case of MERS in Korea since July 2, 25 days ago, and the incubation period for MERS is usually no longer than 14 days.

korea, science | 2015.07.28 03:11 | Kurt Tomlinson