text:
The Hunt

The soft, blue sky and sounds of chipping birds didn’t soften the concerned look on the man’s face as he peered out the window.

“They’re out there, son.”  He warned.  “They came during the night.  Pods hidden amongst the landscape.  They’re  hidden, but I know they’re  there.  I can smell them.”

His words were confirmed with tightening eyelids and a terse nod.

“It’s not like last time.”  He continued.  “Last time easy to spot.  They were bigger and ugly.  Everyone knew they were dangerous.  This time, though; this time they were smart.  The pods are small, so they’re easy to hide.  They’re brightly colored, too.  It makes them easier to find, but also lulls its victims into a sense of false security.  There’s got to be hundreds of them out there.”

The soldier steps back and racks his rifle.  “Clack-clack!”

“Don’t worry, Dad.  I got this” He says with confidence.

A brightly colored basket is lowered in between them.

“Why don’t you collect them instead of shooting them.”  The mother says to her son.”

“Aw, Mom!”  The boy protests as she disarms the young soldier.

“No, no.  She’s right!”  The father chimes.  “Gunfire will alert them to your presence.  You need to stalk them, special ops style, and bring them back to the home base for study and interrogation.  They’ll crack under the pressure!”

Mom rolls her eyes as the child bolts out the door.

A little story for Easter

Easter is a wonderful holiday signifying renewal, rebirth, and is looked at the unofficial beginning of spring.

Besides the strong Christian heritage of the holiday, the nonreligious aspects of this holiday on our culture are stronger than most realize.

In the spirit of secular Easter, I give to you this true story.  The names have been changed to protect those involved.

A young man was busily working at an elderly ladies house in preparedness for the holiday.  He had trimmed the shrubs, thinned the trees, and pulled most of the weeds when he came to a rather thick clump under a small palm tree.  Seeing how thick the area was, the young man grabbed his weed trimmer.

“Could you check that before trimming it?” The elderly lady asked.  “I wouldn’t want you to hurt any baby rabbits.”

Nodding, the young man set down his trimmer.  Kneeling before the tree, he sifted the weeds through his fingers.

Satisfied with his search, he looked up and said, “It’s ok.  I don’t see any bunny eggs.”

Happy Easter.

Bunny eggs


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O'Sullivan family travels and beyond

Toilet humour

We British are renowned for toilet humour but travelling round the world with three young children really does mean this will be a big factor and ‘regular’ conversation point for our family more than most. Thankfully Seamus uses the toilet and is dry day and night. Prior to travelling, we worked on him learning that he needs to give us notice rather than wait until he’s bursting.

Grrrl Traveler’s YouTube guides were brilliant to help explain to the girls what they might see on our travels – especially as we have one princess who might find it a bit more of a big deal than the other (we just about survived a British music festival). We have packed a Shewee in case we really do get caught short.  We can take so much for granted in our every day life, such as hot running water, good sanitation but we will be visiting different places and cultures and need to be prepared to ‘go with the flow’. (Is that enough bathroom puns yet?)

So what have we faced so far …

Well,  the Trans-Mongolian train we took from Russia to Beijing had a toilet in each carriage. We weren’t in First Class compartments so the passengers there may have a different version of events to us. Our facility was stainless steel with a pedal flush that opened directly on to the snowy tracks. We travelled in winter through Siberia when the temperature outside was -7C or even colder , so you might be a bit chilly if your little brother steps on the flush while you are using it… I won’t name which child knows that! There was a small hand basin but only cold water (there is boiling water available at the other end of the carriage.)  Bring your own loo roll, soap and hand sanitizer. Toilets were locked about 15-20minutes before a station and not open again until about 15minutes leaving. Make sure you check the schedule as this can sometimes mean a very long time without access to the bathroom – especially at border checks which can take hours!

Thanks to Grrrl Traveler, we had braced ourselves for Squat toilets, which were often the only option in shops, restaurants and even tourist attractions in China although there were sometimes western style loos available. In all these places, they often smelled of smoke as people must have sneaked in there for a quick cigarette. Sometimes loo roll was available (don’t put it in a squat toilet), sometimes not. Sometimes dispenser had soap, sometimes not. Meaning bring some hand sanitizer and tissue just to be sure. Some shopping malls had lovely little children’s toilets, just the right size for Seamus.

On the Chinese sleeper trains there was a squat toilet and a western style toilet in each carriage. Again, sometimes there was soap, sometimes not and mostly there was no paper. We’re not sure how some people chose to use the loo, but all we’ll say is, thank goodness for the disposable slippers we were given for the journey! A lady with a little trolley was selling toilet paper on the train from Xi’an – Shanghai.

Here’s Orla at the loo of a lovely restaurant in Beijing to give you and idea of what the facilities can look like in bars and cafes etc.

In Japan, we’ve found both squat and western toilets. Heated toilet seats seem to be very popular – even in public loos.  Some of the other features, like the music button have been a novelty for the kids! All the other buttons are in Japanese and we haven’t been brave enough to press them – I am not sure what we think might happen!

IMG_20160311_163332 IMG_20160312_125638  IMG_20160317_174507

Answers on a postcard as to how we use this one which was in the Ladies’ in Osaka station…

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Thank You

(thundie: I’m thrilled to introduce my second guest blogger, someone whose gifted writing I’ve long admired. Please welcome Serendipity!)

Hi, I’m Serendipity. Thundie made me an offer I couldn’t possibly refuse: an invitation to contribute to this fabulous blog. This is my first foray into the wonderful world of k-drama blogging, and to stay my nerves I am taking the advice I often dish out to drama writers – just write from the heart. So for my pilot review I’m attempting to articulate why I have been smitten by the 2007 k-drama Thank You (or TY in short). As I’ll be focusing more on the overall effect of the show than on plot, any spoilers there may be are quite mild.

So, come with me. Let us go on a journey.

The journey could be an unexceptional day-trip, one of many which you will take in your lifetime. We board a ferry to an island which is not particularly special. When we think back on this day we will have a vague memory of a pleasant enough time spent wondering over a rustic island. And as the sun sets and we re-board the ferry, we barely register the golden play of rays on the waves as we chat cheerfully with one another and look forward to our own beds. Perhaps we think that while the island suffices for a quick get-away, we are glad we don’t live like yokels in a small town that doesn’t even run to a decent convenience store. Perhaps our clearest memory of the day will be the nice seafood lunch we had, or the crazy joke our travelling companion cracked. And there would be nothing wrong with that. Life is full of inconsequentials, and we can’t be going around finding deep meaning behind every bush.

Or it could be a special day-trip. One that lodges in your heart and mind forever. Years from now, certain vivid memories still cling to you – perhaps the sight of fishing boats as you stood on the pier in a moment of quiet and set off thinking of journeying and destinations and life. Perhaps your companion said something revealing that you can never forget. Perhaps you caught an evocative smell of cooking from someone’s kitchen as you wandered round a corner in the simple little island town. Perhaps it was the way the evening light gilded a cluster of roof-tops that made you think, “Ah, that is beautiful. Life throws up beauty in unexpected places.”

Or it could be a trip that changes your life. At the first, you made the trip reluctantly and it is tainted by tragedy. Then to your horror you make the same trip by chance, and you are appalled and wish for nothing more than to be away. But something from the past reaches out and grabs you and forces you to engage with this nowheresville. Then real people intersect with you and you catch a glimpse of a simpler and richer life than you had hitherto known. Even though you are living below your station and the lifestyle you are accustomed to, you feel strangely more alive and free. You glimpse true strength and devotion, and you are drawn to it in spite of yourself. To your surprise, you find solace for your soul in domesticity. You try to get away from this madness, but you can’t shake off The Island. And by the end of eleven episodes, you are wanting nothing more than to stay on Blue Island with an impoverished and inconsequential family comprising one precocious child, one demented old man, and one young country woman who wouldn’t last five minutes at the kind of Seoul cocktail parties you are used to as a successful and good-looking young surgeon, but whom you find you can’t live without.

And thus, Dr Min Gi Seo made a life-changing journey to Blue Island.

For some, watching TY is like an ordinary day-trip – pleasant enough but not outstanding – and as I said that’s ok. Where would we be if every k-drama we watched were Deeply Significant? Too impressionable and over-sentimental, that’s where! But for me, watching TY was a special journey. It started out as a venture into just another k-drama with no expectations. By the third episode I was swept up into its world. I marathoned it, then re-watched it, and for days I lived on Blue Island, even more abstracted and away-with-the-faeries than usual.

Why is TY special to me? It speaks to me about issues I know I should pay more attention to: Growth, redemption, and the important things in life. Love that is as strong as death. The value of treating people well and behaving well. TY goes about this in an adult and elegant manner, respecting me as a viewer who prefers down-to-earth reality and simple story-telling to vulgar gratification.

TY is not innovative, nor does it set out to wow me. Rather, it embraces back-so-basics story-telling. Its plot is consistent and carefully crafted (as regards the important points) and mercifully non-hysterical. It tells its story with a light touch, measured and laced with poignancy and gentle humour. Every time I re-watch, I notice a new lovingly-placed detail.

The drama is itself about journeys and journeying. Principally it’s about the internal voyage of Dr Min. And to a greater or lesser degree, every other character also journeys. Its tone is reflective and wistful, as is befitting a journey of the soul.

Ignore, if you please, the quick,-run-a-mile synopsis of “heart-warming story about a doctor who falls in love with a brave single mother of an HIV-positive child”. None of that is untrue, but none of that is the point either. Yes, Lee Bom contracted HIV through a negligent blood transfusion and of course this changes her life. But mercifully the story is not about how pitiful she is or how cruel fate is, and considering this is a k-drama the amount of weeping and wailing and beating of breasts over this tragedy is really quite restrained. Mostly we journey with her mother Lee Young Shin as she wrests from the fates a normal life for Bom, and with others as they grapple with their fears and guilt.

Ignore, also, the uninformative and unpromising name of “Thank You”. It actually does make sense, but perhaps not in the way you might expect. One might think that this is a typical Cinderella story in which pitiful mother and child are rescued by the masterful (and usefully medical) hero – hence “thank you” to their saviour on a white steed. But instead this is about how Dr Min learns from the Lee Family how to live life with respect for self and others, and he learns (while visibly pained, haha) to swallow his pride and say “thank you” to people he once considered beneath him. To be sure, it dishes up another trope – saved-by-the-love-of-a-good-woman. But this is no air-headed wish-fulfilment. The set-up is credible and so grounded in real people and real actions that when we finally see Dr Min the famous (and hot) Seoul surgeon quietly begging, begging, this nobody to let him be admitted into her high-maintenance family, not for a moment do I feel incredulous or any urge to roll my eyes. Rather, I’m begging along with Dr Min: Please, Young Shin, please have pity upon him and graciously enlarge your tent, and let him find refuge and rest for his soul.

Dr Min is realised by Jang Hyuk, he who single-handedly saved Chuno from utter aspirational fail. And, let’s be honest, he plays a 21st century, civilised and cleaned up Dae Gil – less enraged and a lot less unlucky, but nonetheless recognisably Dae Gil, the fearsome slave hunter with a heart of marshmallow. Jang Hyuk brings the same 100% acting commitment to TY that he later brought to Chuno. (And the same hotness, it must be said, if not more if you like your men in clean clothes and styled hair rather than unwashed rags and dingy hair.) He fills every frame he’s in with searing intensity. As emotions flit across his face we can read him like a book. Jang Hyuk’s performance is so compelling and heartfelt, I like to think that he dug deep and tapped into his own recent experience of near-disaster and rehabilitation (see attempted draft-dodging scandal).

He is not a tall man whereas our second male lead is rather tall, and normally this would pose a problem. But JH so dominates and radiates so much charisma, even when he has to look up to the second lead to address him and uses his quiet indoor voice, there is never any question who is the alpha dog.

9bDr Min Gi Seo is our hero. He would much rather be our anti-hero since he works so hard at being an evil-tempered and disagreeable bad-boy. But we can see that even in his unredeemed pre-Lee Family-influenced state, his heart is not in his bad. Much as he would love to be able to walk away from helping people, he finds that he ultimately can’t. It’s true that he has little patience with stupid people – but that’s a common enough trait of accomplished and embittered people. We are told that this man who kicks dog-houses used to be kind to children until his father made a self-destructive choice Dr Min couldn’t come to terms with. (I don’t really get this aspect of the plot, nor why it contributes to his giving in to despair and going over to the dark side midway through the series. But no matter, as I get that plot logic plays second fiddle to the part this detour plays in Dr Min’s Odyssey.) His anger is further fuelled by his inability to save his girlfriend from dying of cancer (no big spoiler here as this happens in episode one) – this is a triumph of ego over logic, but, again, no matter. (And by the way his deceased girlfriend was a thoroughly decent woman so we may assume she saw something in Dr Min beneath the bratty tantrums.)

Dr Min is the man who appears to have it all but is actually spiritually impoverished. In a significant moment late on the show, having been told that he shouldn’t let his pity for Young Shin and Bom lead him to kid himself and that he should leave Blue Island and go back to the bright lights of Seoul where he belongs, Dr Min muses to (uncomprehending) Grandpa, “It’s not that I pity you, you know. You are people who live life grateful. I’m much more to be pitied. I just happen to have been born into a rich family and to have studied a little more than most people – there’s nothing special about that.” And thus he states the central creed of this tale of redemption.

So, who is this paragon Young Shin? She is a woman who has lived all her life in a small island agricultural society. She is extremely kind-hearted, somewhat absent-minded, and pleasant-looking enough in an unspectacular way. We’ll never know whether she is book-smart or not, because she never has the opportunity to play with books having gotten pregnant young and unmarried and opted to keep her baby. Orphaned long ago, she works as many jobs as she can to put her younger brother through university and to care for her daughter and her senile grandfather. She hides her child’s HIV-status from everyone upon the advice of the local doctor and nurse who are wonderfully sympathetic but don’t trust the villagers to be open-minded – a dubious decision, perhaps. In any case, having chosen her course, she goes about life’s challenges with ingenuity and single-mindedness. Her household is filled with laughter and her family has a firm moral anchor. She is somewhat passive, but personally I don’t mind because the stereotypical “spunky” or “feisty” k-drama heroine can be oh so irritating. But I don’t think Young Shin is a complete doormat either. When outraged by Dr Min’s behaviour, she casts off her biddable-woman persona and roundly tells him off or throws him off her premises (by a series of accidental events and by his contrivance, he has become her tenant). And she can get tired of it all, and her courage and self-belief can fail her.

Still, the whole package taken together, I have to admit she’s somewhat saintly. In truth, I personally relate more to the flawed Dr Min than to Young Shin. So it’s notable that I like her so much. In real life I would be happy to befriend Young Shin. I think I could be myself with her and we could have fun. I’m not sure Young Shin could have been pulled off by an actress less natural and endearing than Gong Hyo Jin.

I’m not going to give you a plot synopsis, because plot is not the point of TY. Even so, the plot works by and large and trots along at a decent enough pace. I really like that it doesn’t have over-dramatic moments or plot convolutions. There are some misunderstandings, but they generally get cleared up in a reasonably timely fashion. Difficulties and disasters are real problems of human life, not artificially-induced melo ones.

Perhaps you fear that TY is precious and moralistic. You’ll just have to believe me when I say it is instead pleasingly uplifting and life-affirming. Now, I know that sounds corny and that there is thin line between “uplifting” and “pretentious”. I can’t quite explain how it stays on the right side of the line. Perhaps it helps that the emotionally intense moments (and there are quite a few) are not over-indulged but are balanced with a fine sense of humour, usually at Dr Min’s expense: I love that his money and status often counts for nothing in the Blue Island World. For a drama that features an HIV-positive child for crying out loud it has a lot of LOL moments of the good-humoured variety.

No k-drama is complete without romance. While TY is not primarily a love story, I enjoy the way the romance gently unfolds. Love-talk is spare and skinship is rare. Bom, lucky girl, gets more intimate bonding time with Dr Min than Young Shin does.

Dr Min and Young Shin start out by teasing and scolding in typical k-romcom fashion (mostly, he teases and she scolds). Over time their, actions and attitudes betray that they are drawing into each others’ orbits.

After the initial obligatory rocky start, Young Shin and Dr Min see the tender parts of each others’ hearts, lend each other inner strength and bring out the best in each other. It’s more than physical attraction (though we are talking Jang Hyuk and Gong Hyo Jin here so we definitely have that). But fear not: the show tosses out enough crumbs by way of delectably romantic scenes to keep the shippers among us happy (and I have manfully resisted the more spoilery screencaps).

It’s debatable who benefits more from this relationship. The world at large would think that Young Shin has more to gain by snagging this eligible and resourceful man. Young Shin annoyingly buys into this one-sided viewpoint in self-deprecation (though one can hardly blame her, I’d succumb to self-doubt myself if Dr Min whirled into my life). And it has to be said that if your biggest challenges in life are senile dementia and AIDS, it’s terribly handy to have a doctor around the house, and a moneyed one to boot. On the other hand Dr Min receives a priceless gift from Young Shin, as the Lee Family surrounds him with warmth and safety so that he can gradually release his death-grip on his heart, and embrace compassion and hope.

K-dramas have a tendency to have unsubtle soundtracks which dare you not to notice them. TY is no exception. Sure the music can be sappy, but it’s also very evocative. Months later, hearing the soundtrack I can still smell the salt air, hear the waves, and feel the bittersweet yearning.

The look of TY is plain and commonplace, as is fitting since it is about the trials of common life and the value of common people. It captures the essence of Blue Island, with skilful use of lighting. Even though TY is not particularly beautiful, I like watching it in high-definition to catch the sound of the sea and to see the special quality of island lighting.

TY is notable for its absence of villains or saints – everyone has virtues and everyone has flaws. Beyond our luminous leading couple, among the talented cast there’s someone for everyone. Seo Shin Ae has been much feted, deservedly, for her assured turn as the eight-year old HIV-positive Lee Bom. I warmed to her – which says a lot because I’m usually allergic to cute onscreen children. Fortunately her cuteness comes across as fresh, even a little bratty, rather than artfully dimpled or precious. Grandpa Lee is perfected cast and perfectly realized by Shin Goo. He brought back to life my own beloved grandfather who was senile in his last years, and this as you may imagine hit me real hard – I don’t think I’d had such a good, cathartic cry to grieve for my granddad since his funeral a couple of years ago.

Choi Seok Hyun is Young Shin’s old flame and our second lead. He may have a tendency to take the easy way out, but he’s a good man at heart. His worst fault seems to be an inability to take decisive action. He may win viewers’ sympathy and Shin Sung Rok does an excellent job (though personally I can’t get too excited about him). But Seok Hyun’s dithering is a fatal flaw and in the TY scheme of things he is the one who hesitates and is lost. By the end of the series, the world just passes him by. Quite literally. As he sits in his parked car indulging in regret, drama is unfolding along the road right in front of him but he is paralysed and takes no part. Seok Hyun’s tale is of a man who finally realizes what is important to him, but too late.

Seok Hyun’s fiancée (Kim Sung Eun) is a nice enough young lady (if clueless about appropriate attire for Blue Island). There is nothing wrong with her and in any other situation she would do fine. But she is just an ordinary Seoul woman, no match for our Young Shin. In the end, neither we nor Seok Hyun can bring ourselves to care about her.

At first I didn’t have much interest in the un-extraordinary minor characters, but on re-watch they have grown on me. The ditzy local nurse who has a melt-down every time there’s a crisis (which is very often with Dr Min on Blue Island as he carries medical emergencies in his train, much as murders follow Miss Marple around) starts out being comic relief but by the end of the story is the solidly dependable one. The local doctor who nearly failed med school and faints at the sight of blood may seem like a mere foil for the cool Dr Min, but he earns our respect with his moral steadfastness, teaching Dr Min a thing or two in that department, and we are happy for him when he finds his place on the island.

The ahjumma who carries an unlikely torch for Grandpa is a bit annoying but you may come to appreciate her humanity and her truth-speaking. Seok Hyun’s mother is extremely annoying, but once I was able to understand that this was how a weak and disappointed old woman copes with life I was eventually able to be in charity with her.

Finally, just to prove that I haven’t completely lost my marbles over TY, I’m not blind to its faults. The “action scenes” (accidents, hospital emergencies) are atrociously filmed. The fakest fake blood and least realistic surgery scenes you ever did seen (mercifully for the faint of heart). It employs its fair share of clichés. For instance, not only do Dr Min and Seok Hyun take Showers of Self-Loathing, Dr Min even has a Bubble Bath of Despair (doubtless, more post-military service Jang Hyuk-fanservice, but who’s complaining). There’s reckless driving to indicate that the driver is troubled. There’s a rather arbitrary fight scene, which appears to serve no purpose other than to show off Jang Hyuk’s martial arts prowess. It’s a little simplistic on some points (You know, Dr Min, it is possible for one to do the whole successful Seoul businessman gig without becoming a totally soulless bastard). It contains a great big plot gap in the unexplained disappearance of Young Shin’s brother (though, probably no one cares and he would have cluttered up the story-board anyway). And is or is not the Lee residence right on a beach? If so, why does no one ever step onto it, is it full of toxic waste or something? And whatever happened to the plans to take over the island and turn it into a giant resort? Evidently, the show doesn’t care about mere trifles such as geography and event consistency. Personally, I’m not too bothered by the lack of attention paid to such externals because it seems to me that TY is less a drama than a fable, more about the interior than the exterior.

It wasn’t until I took screencaps of TY for this review (my fourth watch in as many months, and still a pleasure) that I was struck by how often it features people walking along Blue Island’s roads.

And how often people look out to sea as they ponder life (principally Dr Min, but not always). Fitting, isn’t it, for a drama about journeys?

Come. Come with me. Let us savour the salt in the air, watch the travelling curls of waves and feel the wind playing in our hair. Come, let us journey to Blue Island.

Thank you for reading to the end of my maiden attempt at a k-drama review. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing. I would love to hear from you and what you think of Thank You — Love it? Hate it? Think I’m smoking dope? Think I’ve let my Jang Hyuk-love blind me to the fact that mean Dr Min is no better than a feral dog who has swaggered along to pee all over the place and dominate Young Shin? Think that what I fondly imagine is Gong Hyo Jin’s understated elegance is actually wooden acting? Think I’m too impressionable to believe that the down-to-earth feel is due more to authenticity than a pathetic budget? Bored by nothing much happening on Blue Island? Drop a comment!

50 thoughts on “Thank You

  1. @Serendipity, girl

    Lol. I just realized you commented about the ending already but I missed it.

    “I agree the ending was saccharine. But I was just so so relieved it wasn’t an everyone-dies-tragically-and-we-all-slit-our-wrists,-wailing ending, I would never complain. For a drama about an HIV-positive child, it was the best ending we could have hoped for. And since the story is about hope, it was fitting. I was quite satisfied.”

    How is it we have the exact same opinion?

    it starts on page 64. I haven’t read it yet but there are riches in them hills. I can’t believe I didn’t read any of this stuff at the time and I can see some familiar names e.g. gerryg, shirly, dahee, you, ripgal. I kind of stopped going to soompi around 2006.

    Dr Wang will make a sexy gangster. I totally see benicio in him.

  2. @wabbit

    Thank you! Me too, I’ve not re-watched any other drama as often as I’ve re-watched Thank You, and my first watch was only four months’ ago!!

    LOL, I noticed that too! How is it we have the exact same opinion? The same way we managed to get our GPS coordinates coinciding without realising it?!

    Off to check out the epic soompi TY debate. Thanks, nycgrl, for unearthing the page number.

  3. Dear Serendipity,

    Congrats on yr first review here. I’m glad u did TY as your first. Reading this, it brought back so many lovely memories of this drama. It was filled with so much hope, smiles & tears.

    All the actors & actresses did so well in this drama & of course the soundtrack was wonderful. I agree totally when u say …….
    (Months later, hearing the soundtrack I can still smell the salt air, hear the waves, and feel the bittersweet yearning.) So apt!!!!

    And of course I’m in Dr.Min’s camp. Huhuhu…..Bom’s birth father is such a wimp!! Even though he regretted his actions/choices in life but all that came too late, I’m afraid. Sigh……wat can I say, Life’s a bitch!!!

    Well, bravo on this review & do write more. Hwaiting!!!!!

  4. Another fantastic analysis! I also loved TY. But honestly, I didn’t completely understand Young Shin’s rejection of Dr. Min (over and over again) in the last third of the drama – not just as a love interest but as friend. She actually seemed ungrateful at times (although gracious to everyone else). There was that dialogue – I think in the penultimate scene – that seemed to be about her accepting herself as a single mom. But, I’m not sure that I undertood it. I think that TY is one of those dramas that looses a lot in the subtitles. Maybe if I spoke Korean, her motivations would have been clearer to me.
    I would love for someone to explain the motivations in the last few episodes.

  5. @serendipity and thundie

    I just finished TY a few minutes ago and I just had to come back to this blog to thank you both. TY was everything you guys said… “uplifting”, “awesome drama”, “understated beauty”, etc. Jang Hyuk was more than amazing, I loved him here even more than I did at Chuno. hehe… probably because I just find him a lot more handsome here – which I never really noticed (much!) in Chuno – although he was always HOT and oh so charismatic of course… goes without saying…

    The girl who played Bom, Seo Shin Ae was so good and natural. I can’t wait until she grows up. I hope she doesn’t stop acting.

    And my 2 cents worth on Dr. Min vs. Seok Hyun is that I think the biggest difference between the two and why Dr. Min eventually won was that Min Gi Soo fought for his love while SH pretty much lost by default. MGS sacrificed so much of his lifestyle, his better judgment, his natural instincts and changed himself because he believed his life lies with Lee Bom and Shoung Yin. I agree with Serendipity’s opinion that perhaps SH only saw the strength of SY’s heart and beauty when he gleaned it from MGS’s eyes. He did admit once that during the 8 years that he was away, there were more important things that he focused on – himself. Later on, when he was shouting at his mom outside the bathroom, he said that he wanted to be the best son and man, someone his Mom can be proud of and one his Dad would regret abandoning. I guess during those 8 years of “bettering himself”, SY did not fit into his agenda. When he realized how important Bom and Shoung Yin were to him, STILL, he did not want to stand up for the truth and would rather live the lie. Sure he did them wrong – for 8 long years – but hey, he could have made it up to them, starting now! He has to work really hard, especially on Bom to show how really sorry he is, but again, he passed up the opportunity by his weakeness!, and used the trivial excuse that their happiness was more important? Yeah, but when the truth finally comes out (as truths have a habit of doing), would Bom still be able to forgive him? That is why I agree with the way the issue resolved itself. Yey!

  6. @houstontwin
    I really liked Young-shin in the last two episodes, it was nice that the show finally focused on her and how SHE felt for once. She did seem harsh towards Dr. Min but it wasn’t entirely unwarranted. YS could take all levels of ‘tude from other people but if there’s anything she wouldn’t accept it was pity, whether towards her or her daughter.
    When she learned the truth about MGS and why he’d given Bom that teddy, she felt him and his late fiance felt guilt and pity towards the mother and daughter. (I agree with her logic, I’d feel the same.)
    Since the show focused on the intricacies of relationship it was good they addressed this issue and questioned Dr Min’s *real* affections towards that family.

  7. What a great review. There are dramas that I like only certain actors. But Thank You was exceptional. Everyone was likeable. You can watch each one of with the same interest: from the oldest to the youngest. Even the dog. This is one drama I always recommend to a friend who just starting to like k-drama. My owm copy has been circulated already among friends so many times I’m afraid it will be ruin in the future.

  8. @ Verlaine

    Thanks for dropping your lovely note! My first review was such an encouraging experience largely because of the kind comments from folk like you.

    @ houstontwin

    I too have wondered about Young Shin’s rejection of Dr Min. You’re right – it’s not clearly explained. My take is that she understood (rightly) that what Dr Min was offering was love, not platonic friendship, and that platonic friendship between the two of them didn’t even make sense. And I think she rejected his love because she saw herself as her village saw her — a nobody and even a bit of a failure and social liability. She didn’t see herself as Dr Min saw her — a woman of heart and strength who could give him the warmth and safety he needed and who was at that moment the only balm he could find for his soul. So she rejected his love out of a lack of self-esteem (hence her words on the hospital bed). And I think also out of a sense of disbelief. I mean, *would* you trust your heart and your life to this almost-stranger who has blown into your life from another world? It’s a fairy tale and, yeah, it’s really all very unlikely. How do you know you are not just the latest fad in his life, part of his romantic rustification phase, to be put aside once he is bored? A sensible woman would not bank on his steadfastness!

    @ wits

    Thanks for your thoughtful comments!

    Personally, like you I find it hard to sympathise with Seok Hyun. At least, at a heart level. At a “head” level, I have to say I don’t think Seok Hyun is a bad guy, and in a real life scenario he would probably make a better life companion than Dr Min (less volatile, more transparent, less complicated). I don’t think he meant to hurt Young Shin, and he seemed to repent very sincerely. And there is actually nothing very wrong with his desire to succeed in life, which he does without compromising his morals overmuch. (I am assuming from his shock at seeing Bom that he didn’t know about her existence until 8 years on; that the most he is guilty of is not enquiring after Young Shin, but that he did not consciously abandon them.) But in the context of the drama he draws the short straw, poor thing, and I feel he really can’t win when he has been set up to play the the figure contrasting the hero of the story.

    @ supah

    Yes! Of course there’s that too! Young Shin rejected Dr Min when she learned about Dr Min knowing his girlfriend’s culpability. We don’t know for how long she would have persisted in her rejection if he had hung around to prove his good faith. But I too liked that she showed the tender frailty and human-ness beneath her usually placid facade by rejecting (understandably) his apology and petulantly casting away the teddy bear.

    @ WINNIE

    Yes! The dog! How could I omit to mention the dog? Such presence! I was always aware of what the doggie was up to, even when there was high human drama going on around him.

  9. Pingback: Revisiting Thank You (MBC 2007) | Serendipity's Stream of Consciousness

  10. Pingback: Polishing Off Comrades (KBS, 2010) | Serendipity's Stream of Consciousness

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Stuffed Shells

12 uncooked jumbo shells
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
t tbsp chopped basil
1 egg
1 cup spaghetti sauce

Preheat oven to 350F.

Boil salted water in a large pot. Cook shells according to box’s instructions. Drain and cool.

Mix together ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, parmesan, salt, basil and egg in a large bowl.

Spread about 1/4 a cup of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Stuff shells with the ricotta mixture and place close together. Top with sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for and additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

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How to Piggyback and Recycle Credit Card Points

Freedom or folly? (Photo codestr)

I almost never use cash for travel or electronics. How?

There are two simple methods for leveraging credit card point systems to cover both business and personal expenses: piggybacking and recycling.

The former is strategic expensing, whereas the latter is arbitraging cash (or equivalents) and credit (or equivalents) to mass produce points.

I use piggybacking exclusively, but I’ve heard some incredible stories about recycling. Do your homework before using either.

Piggybacking is particularly effective for those who have followed the muse development in the 4HWW, which provide templates for automated sources of income that are low maintenance but can be expensive in one or both of two tactical areas: manufacturing and advertising.

Regardless of where your expenses come from, shop for providers/suppliers that are willing to accept credit cards as payment, and negotiate this upfront. Here’s one approach: “Rather than trying to negotiate you down on pricing [only after you’ve negotiated up what they offer you for the same price to get a better yield per dollar], I just ask that you accept payment by credit card. If you can do that, we’ll choose you over Competitor X.”

This is yet another example of a “firm offer,” and not a question, that puts you in a stronger negotiating position.

“Piggybacking” is so named because it is the use of credit cards to pay for inevitable expenses, not the use of credit cards to actively accumulate points by buying things otherwise unnecessary.

The value of any reward point system is awful — generally one cent for every dollar spent. Focus on increasing your cash-flow and the commensurate increases in normal expenses you can then pay for using select high-yield credit cards. The points then simply “piggyback” your expenses, and the full balance of all cards is paid off at the end of each month. Don’t focus on points instead of profits, just as an addition.

I recommend getting two business credit cards, always separate from your personal credit cards, with at least two separate processing companies: American Express and MasterCard/VISA.

Sign up for all of your credit cards within 48 hours to minimize the negative effect these inquiries will have on your credit score. I currently use two cards for accumulating points, which I apply primarily to travel (assume 35,000 points/dollars-spent for a domestic roundtrip and 50-75,000 points/dollars-spent for an international roundtrip):

American Express Business Platinum Card

The Platinum card offers several excellent benefits to the would-be lifestyle designer, and I wrote an article about specific features that can get you a near immediate 300-400% return on investment.

AMEX also provides the most flexible point system, as their points can be transferred to the greatest number of other programs, such as Southwest Airlines Rewards and the OnePass Alliance (of which Continental, below, is a member airline).

The primary deficit of most airline-affiliated credit cards is their inflexibility: if you own an American Airlines card, your points can only be used on American Airlines tickets, and that is it. Screw those guys, as they will happily screw you by expiring your points and imposing related jerkiness.

AMEX, by contrast, is not only flexible but has a catalog of over 20,000 worthwhile products (including iPods and assorted electronics) for purchase directly via their website. I use this card to pay for all online pay-per-click advertising (Google, Overture/Yahoo, etc.), which in turn pays for all of my domestic travel and consumer electronics purchases. My current point balance at the time of this writing is 197,486 points.

Chase Continental Airlines Business Card:

Many businesses will not accept AMEX for payment due to its high discount (processing) rate, hence the need for a MC/VISA card. This particular Chase card is sponsored by Continental Airlines but points are applicable to the OnePass Alliance, which comprises nearly 20 airlines. It is critical that you attempt to get a card with no blackout or restricted dates that are reserved only for paying customers.

I was given 15,000 points upon signing, which left me with 35,000 points to acquire before any free international flights. I use this card to cover a minimum of $20,000 per month in manufacturing and $5,000 per month of print advertising, for an average of 6,250 points acquired per week.

This means I can get a free first-class roundtrip ticket to Japan or Brazil every eight weeks or so, particularly if I sweet talk a OnePass operator into helping me drop the miles needed, which can be done with a few sentences of playful begging. Call back until you get an operator willing to help.

One can also combine the AMEX points when needed and boost the points using recycling for an international roundtrip every four to six weeks, without any real effort other than normal business expenses (of course put on autopay) and a little well-placed charisma. My current point balance on the Continental card is 78,265 points.

Recycling Points

Recycling and related arbitrage allows you to legally move cash from credit cards to cash-like instruments and back to credit cards, without significant fees but with all the benefits of point accumulation. There are many methods at your disposal, but the least time-intensive I’ve heard of involves a simple 1-2-3 process:

1. Set your credit card cash advance limits to $0. You don’t want any nasty surprises if the processors or banks change their policies, and cash advances are an expensive way to learn. If they ask you why, just tell them you want to protect your account against identity theft.

2. Purchase gift cards that can be used as MC/VISA debit cards. An example of such a card is the AllAccess Card. “CharterOne Mastercard Gift Cards” used to be the cult favorite, but I couldn’t find them.

3. Use the gift card to purchase a Walmart or postal money order, which is then deposited back in your bank account to pay off your credit card balance and finalize the points. There is a nominal cost per 1,000 points associated with this ($1.25 or so per $1,000 money order with the USPS), but it is a useful tactic if you don’t have the requisite cash-flow or have a deficit of a few thousand points for your desired reward.

Alternatively, you can replace steps 1 and 2 by simply purchasing traveler’s checks at a AAA agency, which is often commission-free, and then redepositing them into your bank account to pay the credit card balance. The rules and restrictions for the cards change often, so the payoff may vary, but you shouldn’t get hurt in the attempt, assuming that you have a $0 cash advance limit and pay off your balance in full at the end of each month. Again, do your homework, as things change often.

Also… play nice and tell your dear accountant about your plans so his head doesn’t explode trying to figure out what the hell is going on with your cash-flow.

Last but not least…

If you are still a few thousand points behind par and need to inflate your rewards account quickly to get an international ticket, AMEX is often happy to provide a boost in exchange for spreading the wealth.

Call AMEX and tell them that you would like to get gold cards for your family and employees (even if you have none, they don’t check). The last time I used this, I received 2,500 per referral for a maximum of five people, or 12,500 points. I signed up the three members of my family and two of my best friends, whose cards were then mailed to me, at which point I simply cut them up and tossed them in the garbage.

Each card cost me $35 each, a total of $175, but it also pushed me over the threshold and allowed me to get a $1,000+ roundtrip ticket to Brazil for nothing but points.

This last tactic is needlessly expensive if you are not on a deadline of some type, but I was rushing for a pre-Christmas relaxation trip to warmer climates in 2004. If you are similarly short on time, this can put you on a plane where you wouldn’t have enough points otherwise.

Happy arbitraging 🙂

Related links:

Platinum Card Finally Gets Me
New Year, New You: How to Travel the World with (or without) Kids in 2008
“Chapter 14: Mini-Retirements: Embracing the Mobile Lifestyle” in The 4-Hour Workweek

Posted on: January 3, 2008.

Please check out Tribe of Mentors, my newest book, which shares short, tactical life advice from 100+ world-class performers. Many of the world's most famous entrepreneurs, athletes, investors, poker players, and artists are part of the book. The tips and strategies in Tribe of Mentors have already changed my life, and I hope the same for you. Click here for a sample chapter and full details. Roughly 90% of the guests have never appeared on my podcast.

Who was interviewed? Here's a very partial list: tech icons (founders of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Craigslist, Pinterest, Spotify, Salesforce, Dropbox, and more), Jimmy Fallon, Arianna Huffington, Brandon Stanton (Humans of New York), Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ben Stiller, Maurice Ashley (first African-American Grandmaster of chess), Brené Brown (researcher and bestselling author), Rick Rubin (legendary music producer), Temple Grandin (animal behavior expert and autism activist), Franklin Leonard (The Black List), Dara Torres (12-time Olympic medalist in swimming), David Lynch (director), Kelly Slater (surfing legend), Bozoma Saint John (Beats/Apple/Uber), Lewis Cantley (famed cancer researcher), Maria Sharapova, Chris Anderson (curator of TED), Terry Crews, Greg Norman (golf icon), Vitalik Buterin (creator of Ethereum), and nearly 100 more. Check it all out by clicking here.

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Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration)

80 comments on “How to Piggyback and Recycle Credit Card Points

  1. What AMEX business card did you use & like using before switching to the Platinum? Why did you choose your previous card it?

  2. Some of these tricks are pretty clever! I, too, have the Continental Mastercard and I use it for everything. EVERYTHING. And when I need to book travel for work, I try to use OnePass airlines to get the miles AND points for paying with the card.

    You make a good point: it’s crucial that you use these cards for necessary expenses you would be paying anyway, rather than searching for new things to buy. The latter makes the whole endeavor worthless.

  3. Isn’t getting credit cards in other people’s names gonna screw with their credit? Or worse, isn’t this fraud? Just curious.

    Hi Rob,

    I can see how this would be a bit confusing. You’re not getting cards with their names that you would use yourself — you are getting additional cards for your business/account that those people would each use. So, let’s assume your brother would like a card but has bad credit or whatever: you get him a card on your account, but it has his name so he can use it. You are responsible for paying for all of his charges.

    Hope that helps!

  4. I’ve been using a relatively simple technique to double my points. Most daily expenses are put on my AMEX. Chase offers a debit card which acrues points like any other credit card. I simply pay off my AMEX each month with my debit card on-line and I get points on my Chase account in addition to the standard points on my AMEX.

  5. NIce!!!!!!!….. I have been doing this the last 2 years with much success. Another good bank that seems really generous on credit lines is Wells Fargo. When I opened my account they gave me a 5k credit line and within 8 months I had them raise the limit to 10k and then to 20K. This was important for me b/c I was ordering large sums of materials(for the concrete business) and it really helped out. I have no personal relationship with Wells Fargo other than business. They give you airline miles for any airline. 25,000 points gives up $500 in a domestic flight and 50,000 points gives you $1000 in any international destination. I thought I would tell everyone about these options. My flight to Buenos Aires in Feb is thus being paid by Wells Fargo(SWEET!!!!) Other options, this one is good for those who are contractors: Home Depot gives a credit card with 0 payments and 0% interest for 12 months. This can be helpful if you put the money into a money market account(Fidelity offers an account that you don’t pay taxes on the interest) Anyhow, this blog is so true. This is a real smart to make the credit card companies pay for your travel and help your credit ratings.

    Tim, thanks again I look forward to some awesome blogs in 08,

  6. In New Zealand, Amex does “turbo” points, so you get 2 points for every dollar spent. I got this before I went on a work trip to Russia – cha-ching, $20K NZ and 40,000 points in 2 weeks 🙂

    Worth it for $40 NZ (around $30 US) per year 🙂

  7. here’s a way to make money using credit cards with any effort…

    I called up citibank to cancel my card but they convinced me to stay by giving me a balance transfer up to $20,000 at 0% apr for 12 months. I only had a debt of $1000 on my bank of america credit card so instead of transfering $1000 into my checking account to pay off my credit card. I transfered $20,000 into my checking account and paid off the $1000 debt and transfered $19000 into my ING orange savings account which gives me around 4.5% interest. I set a calendar reminder to pay off the $20,000 in a year before the deal expires and now “my free” money is making money for me without me doing anything. Awesome! As long as I don’t spend the money, I can easily “return” the money after it’s been sitting in my account making interest (remember it’s compound interest) for me. I even talked it over with the citibank representative to make sure it was okay. He was impressed and told me he was going to try that too! haha

  8. Great Post! I’ve been doing this for a while and landed on the Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX. A recommendation from a great article I read in Conde Nast Traveler. You get 1 Starwood point for every dollar, but you can then transfer Starwood points to airlines, hotels, etc at pretty good rates. For most airlines, you get an additional 5,000 points for every 20,000 you transfer.
    See Link

  9. As far as your mail stuff goes–I saw a bit on CNBC 2 mos. ago how a processing center will scan your mail and you no longer have to physically take delivery–only the stuff you want or something like that. You may want to add that to your arsenal instead of all that forwarding stuff.

  10. Tim,

    I also heard in my Real Estate circles about using the AMEX Blue Cash to get 5% cash back on purchases. They would use those same negotiating tactics to get their limit raised as high as $100K then start the recycling game. There are a million ways to win the game of life!

    (interesting note: Isn’t it ironic how Chase associates “Freedom” with credit card debt! LOL!)

    Also Jose, thanks for all the great comments recently!

    This Blog revs me up everyday! What a rockin Community!

  11. I don’t know if anyone did this, but Google Checkout was offering 0% merchant processing last year. It looked possible to send yourself a Google Invoice, pay it with your miles card and the money would be deposited back into your checking account fee free. Your money did a lap through your accounts and as long as you paid your full balance at the end of the month, you incurred no costs. With cards offering double miles, the points could add up fast.

  12. Almost forgot to add, You can also piggy back credit. In essence if you get a credit with your name on it under someone who has had great credit for years you get all the credit that had been gained with that card. This is probably best for married couples trying to bump each others credit score up. This is completely legal is one of the main things that those credit repair companies recommend. You can also negotiate the interest rate. When you tell banks that you are looking at different banks to see who has the best deal they tend to start giving deals.

    Great Days,

    Jose Castro-Frenzel

  13. The other great thing in New Zealand is that Air New Zealand’s Airpoints converts directly into dollars instead of points. With no blackouts you just accumulate Aipoints dollars which can be used on any flight and any seat at face value $400 flight = $400 Airpoints Dollars. We have all of our bills set to automatically get paid via the Airpoints Amex card (1.5% rewards) and also pay for all groceries with Amex and Flybys (which also adds to the points pool).

    As Tim points out the key thing is not to spend money just to earn points but to be smart about how you pay for your normal expenses.

  14. Tim,

    You second suggestion says: “2. Purchase gift cards that can be used as MC/VISA debit cards.”

    I checked USPS website and here’s what they accept for moneyorders: Purchase with cash, debit card, or traveler’s check

    will this AllAcess giftcard qualify as a debitcard?

    I could not find any info about getting money orders from walmart. Can I buy Money orders with Credit Card ?

    I have samsclub discover credit card that gives 2% money back on all purchases …up to 1 Million dollars per year. How can I maximize that.

    I own a convenience store, and If I can use my creditcard to purchase money orders and pay my vendors those money orders, I would be all set.

  15. Another trick to get a few more miles is to keep trying to cancel your card. Every time I call to cancel my Chase United card they offer me something new. Sometimes it’s only 1000 miles, other times it’s a free companion ticket. One of these days I’ll actually cancel it!

  16. In addition to my AMEX I have a Northwest Worldpoints MasterCard which allows you to accumulate 10 points for every dollar spent at qualifying restaurants. I use to find the best restaurants on the list and end up earning 10X the points for meals at premier restaurants that I would normally eat at anyways! I was able to accrue 60,000 points in a little over 4 months!

  17. Incredible information and great posts! Who knew?

    It would be nice to see this topic/information continued and expanded as a separate section. If this were all in one place, I would check back periodically to see what the new ‘games’ are.

    Thanks – Matt

  18. Tim,

    Isn’t time to get a jet at your own? One that you can cruise around the world, what’s about?

    I guess it would come ok if you would not miss socializing in the commercial flights, you know, that neighbor seat… otherwise, happy counting…

    For me it is great math, and I already took my notes (electronically – no pads like that pile of yours)…

    KISS 😉

    Beleza Pura

  19. “You’re not getting cards with their names that you would use yourself — you are getting additional cards for your business/account that those people would each use.”

    Thanks Tim, that does clear it up.

  20. Tim,

    As you instructed, I’m using your comments box to contact you.

    I’ve got a little business proposal I’d like to run by you. We have a new book coming out in June and we want to lay the groundwork to turn that book into a New York Times bestseller.

    What we’d like to do is hire you as a consultant on the project. The ideas you dream up are nothing short of brilliant…, exactly the kind of mindset needed to make something like this happen. It’d be completely up to you how much you would be involved, and we’d certainly compensate you nicely for your time. I’d love to talk with you more about it.

    Can you email me a phone number I can reach you at?

    By the way — have you ever been out to the Pacific Northwest on your travels — anywhere near Ashland Oregon? If not, know that you’ll have a tour guide extraordinaire if you’d like to give it a whirl sometime.

    Take it easy, and I hope we talk soon.

    Hi Tim,

    Thank you for the comment, and I appreciate the question. Unfortunately, I’m not doing any consulting at the moment. If that changes, I will certainly get in touch and help out.

    Please search “New York Times bestseller” on this blog for some tips that might help. Good luck!

  21. Hi Tim,

    I just got finished listening to your audiobook and bought the print copy so I could start my muse business!

    I wanted to try a bit of recycling so I called AmEx today and they would not set my credit card cash advance limit to $0. They would only lower my available credit to decrease the cash advance limit. How does buying gift cards put you at risk with regards to cash advances?

  22. Tim – do you have any strategies for getting approval for the AMEX business platinum? I have 0 debt, and an annual gross in the six figures, but my business is so new I don’t have much of a credit history, other than my personal one (which has been up and down). I applied tonight, so we will see how it goes through.

    Thanks so much, keep up the good work!

  23. Tim, you’re great and everything but for an 18 year old like me, that was wholly confusing. I don’t understand half the terms you’re throwing out there. As far as building credit, I’ve done it the old fashioned way: bought everything on the credit card, then paid the full balance at the end of the month.

  24. Rocking it!!!!!!! That is what I think of this blog. Something I just thought to add while I am enjoying a glass of red wine. Pick 3 banks(credit card cos.) and interview them, see the pros and cons for the 3 and choose the one that best fits your financial needs. You can do this using a simple excel format. I might add you might also want to mitigate and see the short term and long term pros/cons!

    Buenas Noche de Tejas,

    Jose Castro-Frenzel

  25. Tao,

    I was 18 not tooo long ago. Look at my #14 comment on this blog. If you have a family member who is close to you then this may be an option for you. Also, as you make your payments on time you can convince these banks to raise your credit limits. I did this in less than 9 months, from 5K-20K. Sometimes it is just a matter of trial and error. Furthermore, in a nutshell, leverage yourself so that all your(or at least most of your expenses) are put on some sort of credit card. This can really help you to gain that credit that you want.

  26. I’ve read the credit bureaus are changing their policy, if they haven’t already, in regards to using seasoned credit lines. I believe the new policy is essentially that the person’s credit your piggybacking has no effect whatsoever on your personal credit rating.

  27. Hey Tim,

    Have you ever blogged something like your top 10 exotic “NR” destinations, you know like places most people never seem to consider for whatever reason but which has the greatest value to the American dollar?

    If not, I think that would make for a great post.

  28. Hey Tim,

    I’ve really enjoyed reading what you have to say about a number of topics on this blog! I’m reading three books simultaneously at the moment, but your book is in queue for purchase. Rest assured.

    That being said, I believe my view of credit cards is different from yours. I am currently following the plan Dave Ramsey devised, that promotes the power of using cash for most everything and expresses the dangers that come inherent with credit cards. I currently only have 1 debit card, and have never owned or used a credit card for anything, so you can logically derive from that my credit score is 0. I plan on finding a mortgage service that does manual underwriting.

    Both your plan and have shown and proven prowess. I suppose my question for you is this: How do you approach the very real possibility of interest rate changes on your credit card balances? Why is it worth this risk even for the most disciplined individual? What are things that come to mind that has caused the biggest rejoice to the way you work your finances with your credit cards? The biggest regret?

    I apologize for my inquisitive nature. I only wish to see your way of thinking. Thanks!

    Hi Wes!

    The short answer is that I never carry a balance. I pay off all of my cards each month. Hope that helps 🙂

  29. I am not aware of them changing their policies but you can contact Lexington law firm online and they could tell you. Its free to call so you might consider this option.

  30. “Recycling and related arbitrage allows you to legally move cash from credit cards to cash-like instruments and back to credit cards, without significant fees but with all the benefits of point accumulation.”

    Check your credit card contracts carefully. I believe that they generally are aware of this technique and consider it abusive. I have no idea if it is illegal but I suspect that as part of your contract with the CC company you agree not to behave in this way.

  31. Great post. I have begun traveling back and forth to Australia and the OneWorld Alliance is great, but I need a lot more miles for unrestricted first class tickets (long way from NY to Sydney), so a recycling/piggy backing I will go.

    It’s all been great stuff and the book was my number one gift to give this holiday. As I posted in another comment, look me up if you are coming to NY and want a cool BJJ school to drop into (out of the city, that is)

  32. Wow! There are many ways to rack up points that I’ve never even thought of. Your hacks are creative, but they seem a little time consuming. Yes, it may be worth to go through these hassles for a $1,000 trip, but only if you really need to get away.

    I guess I prefer a more simple approach like buying groceries and other necessities. When the points add up I cash them in for a VISA card and buy more groceries. I guess that’s why I am where I am. I don’t take big risks, small calculations are all I can afford. I’m just content with where I am and I don’t need to work the system to make my life more exciting.

  33. Jose – Tao is correct. Do a search for “Fico08 Piggybacking” to understand the new changes that are being made this spring. There are some doubts if it will actually happen, but Fair Isaac is currently planning to make it so that “authorized users” do not get score benefits.

  34. Is there a way to transfer a large amount of money($20k, $50k, etc) from your credit card and then to your bank account without a large fee (<1%)?

  35. It makes me giggle to think that I could buy a Visa gift card with my AmEx and use the proceeds to pay back my AmEx bill. But just like casinos, the house will change the rules if they’re getting hustled. And in the USA, you’d better watch out that you don’t end up on the FBI watch list for money laundering.

  36. Which has better benefits: AMEX Platinum or Platinum for Small Business?

    I started my own business and do not have any employees. Is there a reason I should go with the Small Business card over the regular Platinum? I couldn’t find any major differences on the website. Does anyone know of the pros/cons for each card and which would be best for my situation?

    Thank You!

  37. Aaron,

    Here is my experience with business cards, you can usually get better rates and more miles per dollar spent on a personal credit card. I have a few personal credit cards and opted to close my business cards b/c they did not give me as many airmiles and had higher interest rates, lastly not to mention the credit lines tend to be lower. Hope this helps

    Jose Castro-Frenzel

  38. After years of no credit card because of my inability to manage my own budget, I’m finally looking at getting back into the game. I’m scared about loosing control again, but I am hopeful that because of the last several years I’ve toiled to pay off unnecessary debit I’ll have more restraint. One of my best friends does this, which I think I will do: she writes all her credit card purchases in her check book register, then when it’s time to pay off her credit card she knows she has enough because she’s already subtracted them from her ballance. She just writes the check for the amount.
    Thanks again!

  39. Unfortunately in Australia the MC/Visa Gift Card can’t be used to purchase “cash or cash equivalents” which is what a money order is. I rang Australia Post and they confirmed their outlets won’t accept either credit cards or Visa gift cards as payment for money orders.

    I was a legend at work for 10 minutes, Tim, until I checked with Australia Post!

  40. once again, love the unique advice!

    Like others have mentioned, I tried canceling an MBNA platinum and they offered me a $25k 1.9% advance rate for a year.

    gee whiz, they’re so pushy. I reluctantly took it!

  41. I recently watched a program on CNBC about American Airlines. A portion of this show was in regards to their rewards program. They interviewed the CEO and were asking him how the rewards program benefits them as a company. He basically said they make large profits from it as they are able to sell the miles to credit card companies for a decent sum of money and that mixed in with the number of miles that go unspent comes big profits. With that being said that asked him how much it costs them when someone does book a seat with their miles and he said literally just pennies. You might be able to use this to your advantage (no pun intended) if you were just short a few thousand miles, with a little sweet talking they might add some miles to your account, due to the low cost to them.

    I’m getting ready to be deployed to Afghanistan… Do you think the government has a frequent flyers reward program?

  42. I did some research on travelers cheques and gift cards in the US. I spent way too much time on this, but it was fun anyway. The short of it is that AAA doesn’t sell travelers’ cheques anymore. Travelex does, but they only accept cash. One place I’ve checked doesn’t accept credit cards for gift card purchases. I did find a money order place, though, that will accept debit cards. I remain in search, though, of a place that I can purchase gift cards with a credit card.

  43. As Josh said, AAA has discontinued traveler’s checks. They now have a reloadable debit card of their own, on which you can load up to $9999. They charge a $4.95 fee for AAA members. However, they said the credit card companies will only allow the transaction to go through if you have a high enough cash advance availability, and if you do you will inevitably be charged the cash advance fee (typically 3% max $75).
    Also, the AllAccess card has a maximum value of $250, and you’re paying at least $3 for the card. So, if you wants to gain 10K points on a credit card, you will be purchasing 40 AllAccess card at a total cost of $120.
    I hate to be a spoiler. Hopefully I’m missing some loopholes that make this profitable and keep us one step ahead of the man.

  44. Tim, I have just began studying your book and philosophy and am very happy I found it!

    As to this topic, I would like to clarify a couple of things. Onepass is Continental Airlines’ frequent flier program. The alliance is called Skyteam, which is comprised of many airlines, including Continental, Delta, and Northwest in the USA. You can use Continental frequent flier miles to get tickets on other Skyteam member airlines. Continental is known to be stingy for reward availability compared to other airlines.

    But I would like to think that you used the Continental card as just an example. It would be better for one to have the credit card of the airline that one flies the most often. Personally, I use United, so I have the United Platinum card.

    To answer a previous poster’s question, the primary difference between personal and business credit cards is that business credit cards are not displayed on your personal credit report. So you can run up the balances on these cards and it won’t negatively affect your personal credit score. However, if you default on the biz card, it will show up on your personal credit report.

    And of course since it is a business credit card, it is much easier to keep your personal and business expenses separate for tax purposes.

    For everything you ever wanted to know about frequent flier miles, check out For credit, check out

    Thank you for the clarification, Frekwentflier!

  45. As a WalMart employee, I can tell you that all gift cards (Except WalMart gift cards, which cannot be loaded via Credit Cards) have to be run as Credit in WalMart. To purchase a money order, you cannot use Credit, The computer system will only allow the use of Debit or Cash. Since Gift Cards never run as Debit… I don’t how well the Recycling idea would work. More than once I have had customers try to use credit at multiple locations including the USPS and local grocery stores, but they don’t accept credit for money orders either.

    I love the idea, just can’t think of a way around this.

    Also, first visit to the blog and love it! Thanks for all the info! Especially useful for someone who would love to escape Walmart…

  46. hi everybody,

    I also did a little research for places selling gift cards which I can use to buy money order for my monthly rent. All Access has a limit of $250. Any other suggestions on how to pay off my rent with credit card. My rental office accepts only money orders and cashier/certfed checks.

  47. Hi there!
    That was a fascinating article! It is going to take me a little while to wrap my head around all those concepts.

    Here’s my question: If you have a large spending limit on your credit card, how do you take advantage of that to get points and be able to pay off your credit card balance each month (assuming you have less in your checking account then in you CC spending limit)?

  48. Tim,
    This is my first time here and it’s really interesting on some of the ideas on how to accumulate points. I’ve been searching for a new cc and want to get rid of my United card because their flight choices from the DC area are very limited. I have a corporate AMEX for work but never use it as I want to accumulate points w/ my Visa. My question is what should I get a Platinum AMEX (that would make 2 AMEX cards for me) and then a another Visa/MC card, perhaps a the Continental?
    I’m a rookie at this so any advice from you veterans would be much appreciated!

  49. Did anyone ever figure out how to convert gift cards back to cash-like instruments? As stated above and as I have personally experienced, I have yet to have heard about a MC/VISA gift/debit card that can be used to purchase money orders or travelers’ checks.

  50. I was totally oblivious about recycling credit card points – it all makes sense to me, it just didn’t cross my mind earlier. Do you mind if I copy some of the content from this article and give you credit for it?

  51. Hello…

    Does anyone know which debit card allows one to load cash with the American Express Blue Sky card? I have the Western Union, AccountNow and Ready Debit cards. It seems as though they only allow cash, direct deposit or dropping by some money cashing place. One of them allows Paypal but I don’t trust that service and plus they charge very high fees sending money.

    Thanks in advance.

  52. Hi Tim, Another great post. I thought your idea of applying for all your cards within a very short time is a particuarly good one so you get your applications through before any impact from the other applications shows up on your credit reports. Not sure what the banks would think of this but I think it’s a great concept!

  53. Hi Tim, Great article and tips for getting more and more points. I do a heap of PPC marketing and use an AMEX card for all my payments. Its great as with AMEX, unlike most reward programs, the points are uncapped and dont expire. In Australia most cards have tough limits on yearly point totals which then mean that they are basically useless for getting heaps of points. It pays to review the conditions of the rewards card before you sign up to see what points limitations may be available. I dont only book tickets for myself but for family and friends as well. I love not paying for flights, spending on something I had to anyway. Then as you mention there are online stores where you can convert the points into household purchases that you would otherwise have to pay for. Go rewards!

  54. TIm,

    I realize I am a little late to the party but better late than never. Does the 3-step process still work??

    I have contacted my credit card company (Bankofamerica, power rewards card) and they have told me there is no way they can change my cash advance limit because it is the same thing as my credit line. Are they BS*ing me? Do I need a new credit card? They also have told me that money orders and traveler’s checks count as cash advances. Would the method still work if I did it all on the same day? I know I’ve asked a few too many questions, but a break down of the 1-2-3 method is required.

    Thank you very much for your timely response (quoted you!),

  55. Does he ever answer the question of which cards can be purchased with credit cards? Seems like he just runs over that little point and I’ve seen question after question about it but nooooo answer. I’ve spent too much time here already.

  56. Since reading the 4HWW i’ve become a huge advocate of using rewards points to contribute towards my muses. Card companies are increasingly allowing points for cash redemption which really gives more freedom to use points for what you want.

  57. Are there any suggestions for which Amex card to get for someone who wants start accumulating points for daily purchases and bills but not an owner of a muse? I’ve been looking at the different cards and would love some input on which has the best bang for the buck. Thanks!

  58. Here’s another way to get points without spending a cent. First, make sure you check that what you purchase is able to be returned and fully refundable. I discovered this by accident after purchasing an expensive item on credit card, only to receive the same item shortly thereafter as a gift. I went back to the store, returned the item I had bought and they refunded the money back onto my credit card. However they did not deduct the points I had earned for the purchase. This happended a few years ago so I’m not sure if it still works.

  59. Gathering rewards through debit cards is even better – all the points (Ok generally not as generous as credit cards) but none of the risk of hefty interest.

    @ Ben – man, that’s a bit of a tough way to play. Poor merchant wouldn’t get their fees back even!!

  60. AAA no longer sells traveler’s cheques, verified by them. I don’t believe anyone will allow you buy them via credit card, similar to money orders.

  61. Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you
    wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is fantastic
    blog. An excellent read. I will certainly be back.

  62. Good day! This post could not be written any better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my old room
    mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post to him.

    Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

  63. Hi, I do believe this is a great web site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I may come back yet again since I book-marked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.

  64. We absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content for you personally? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on most of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome weblog!

  65. Great article! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared across the web. Disgrace on the seek engines for no longer positioning this post higher! Come on over and discuss with my website . Thanks =)

  66. Hey Tim,
    Piggybacking along with these recycling include the straightforward strategies to profiting plastic card place devices to hide the two organization along with personalized charges. The items strategy for trying to recycle will be outstanding at the same time. Thanks for sharing this informative post.


text:
Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Bites

If your like me, sometimes you just need a sweet treat! Balancing between a healthy choice and satisfying a craving can be challenging. We are here to show you a way to do both. You will get a great source of protein in addition to a great energy boost for us busy moms that may need a pick me up in the afternoon.These Healthy Peanut Protein Bites could be the perfect solution

Healthy Peanut Butter Protein Bites

1 cup natural peanut butter or almond butter

2 scoops Vanilla Protein Powder( We used Arbonne) read more

Want To Live A Healthy Lifestyle?

Want to live a healthy lifestyle?0126160745

There is not a set diet out there that will adhere to one certain person for a long period of time.

The goal here is to create Balance in “your” life.  I looked up the word balance to give us a greater understanding, Let’s take a look.  Balance means stability, to remain upright and steadiness.

Are you taking time to create new habits with your food, exercise and to feed your soul?

My challenge for all of us is to take time to examine where you are in your life. read more


text:
Tokyo Local Life Exploration (TLLE)
By Torstein Due Hansen Follow | Public

海外からの観光客と、その観光客に日本のいいところを教えてあげたい日本人を対象に、 東京の美味しいレストラン、バー、クラブをご案内します！ ⁂ENGLISH BELOW⁂

Every valuable memory is formed in the company of good people, and Tokyo is full of them. Whether you are a tourist, a Japanese national, or a Tokyo-bound gaijin, we want to provide you with new friends and an experience to look back on. Many different people visit here every week, and the guidebook will lead you to all the great attractions. These might be the things you will cite to your friends when your time here is up, they are easily explained. However, the true beauty of the city are its hidden jewels, the local places your guidebook doesn't mention, the local people it doesn't tell you to meet. This group is our attempt to bring everyone together and enjoy Japanese culture for what it is, what Japanese people know it to be, while providing Tokyo people with an opportunity to interact with foreigners in English.

Our favorite restaurants and bars, small and cozy places, big and loud places, theme nights, relaxing hangout evenings, for the stressed out people, for the bored, for the happy people and for the sad, for the young people, and for the slightly older, together we will have a good time, even if it's just for one night, no one is left out, and we can all enjoy the pleasures of life.

We are excited to meet you!

*hugs* from Emi & Tor, the organizers!

1 Follower


text:
Day 25: {some bad pun about fire}

“Control is for suckers!” – St. Earth

Dear Miss Lucille,

As your colleague, Miss Julia, gave me a hard tutorial last week, perhaps you could go a little easier on me today? I mean, yes, it’s all for the sake of future learning, everything is process over product, every pot’s a test tile: I get it. I’m not being greedy; I don’t need all 55 of my wares to come out great, or revelatory, or “flawless”. Really I don’t.

But I’ve seen what you can do, with your other students holding the reins, and I’ve now had two little batches of my pots come through your tutelage very well. So I have some expectations — in spite of myself — and I have hopes, because without those how do we ever get to cone ten?

Anyways, all’s well so far; the early morning climb was like a dream, and not just because I was still kind of sleepy; it’s getting hot in there and I still see conepacks, and I feel like I understand what you’re telling me thus far.

So go a little easy on me, will you? Please? I’d really appreciate it.

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Posted by: hobbesonafob | June 4, 2009

Social Control and Insurgents

“Today, for those of us in the West, the state has been part of our natural landscape. Its presence, its authority, its place behind so many rules that fashion the minutiae of our lives, have all been so pervasive that it is difficult for us to imagine the situation being otherwise” (1).

– Joel S. Migdal, 1988

I think Migdal’s quote here contributes to the further idea that the state is a rarity. Following on the idea that the state is diaphanous, and can be usurped/destroyed/replaced by other social groups (particularly coercive and contentious non-state actors – CCNAs), I think that how CCNAs replace states should be examined.

When states are unable or unwilling to honour their contracts, CCNAs are given a window of opportunity to capitalize on. Recruitment, tacit support from the population, empathy from the international community, and other advantages present themselves for CCNAs when social contracts between the state and its population are annulled. Perhaps, life in a given territory has become so bad that a Hobbesian state of nature/war exists in the state itself and the contract that is offered by a CCNA creates a new political entity. Robert D. Kaplan writes that, “a large number of people on this planet, to whom the comfort and stability of a middle-class life is utterly unknown, find war and a barracks existence a step up rather than a step down” (2). That is not to assert that motives for joining a CCNA are based purely on materialistic means; instead, it means that if individuals can align themselves with the state, they can also align themselves with a CCNA.

Nor should one assume that CCNAs only operate in developing countries. For example, western Canada is home to the highest per capita of organized crime syndicates in the entire world. Some CNAs and CCNAs have been empowered by the province’s marijuana trafficking operations; it has become a growing business since former president George W. Bush’s stance on the softwood lumber dispute. Despite the violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization, the American lumber industry profits from the 27 percent tax on Canadian softwood sales into the United States. Misha Gleny describes how former loggers, now out of work, were able to use their transferable skills in marijuana grow operations in British Columbia’s interior:

Many of those who once worked in the traditional industries have moved into marijuana. The trade in weed has attracted large numbers of highly skilled workers who, as I discovered on a trip into the BC interior, have been quick to redeploy their skills into producing vast quantities of marijuana…The men look, smell and move like loggers, their senses finely attuned to the outback. As well as scanning for the telltale signs of grizzlies, they keep their ears open for the distant twittering of helicopter rotors — ‘Could be game wardens, could be RCMP, could be DEA,’ he mutters. They talk like loggers, too, which is almost never (3).

It should be noted that not all of those involved in marijuana grow operations in B.C. are involved with CCNAs. However, there are many CCNAs that are able to entice populations into breaking the law and use coercion. In these situations the individual is acting in the interest of the CCNA. The ability for a CCNA to provide new social contracts to a population and the consequences for the state is better understood when one studies how CCNAs are able to exercise social control.

The idea of individuals participating in CCNAs instead of the state have been commented on by various observers. John Robb has situated the association individuals feel for CCNAs as a type of loyalty:

A primary loyalty is a connection to a non-state group that is greater than loyalty to a state. These loyalties include those to clan, religion, tribe, neighborhood gang, etc.  These loyalties are reciprocated through the delivery of political goods…by the group that the state cannot or will not deliver (see here) (4).

As important as these “primary loyalties” are to a CCNA, they become even more beneficial for CCNAs when individuals act on the CCNAs’ behalf — what Migdal calls “social control.” The importance of being able to mobilize a population is shown in Migdal’s description of social control: “Social control is the currency over which organizations in an environment of conflict battle one another.” For him, social control is divided into three levels:

COMPLIANCE: “conformance to its demands by the population. Compliance often first comes with the use of the most basic of sanctions, force.”

PARTICIPATION: “to gain strength by organizing the population for specialized tasks in the institutional components of the state organizations.”

LEGITIMATION: the “acceptance, even approbation, of the state’s rules of the game, its social control, as true and right” (5).

The ability for a CCNA to exercise social control provides an incredible resource from which to draw. Social, mental, and even emotional capital can be drawn from those who change their primary loyalty from the state to a CCNA and begin to comply, participate, and accept the CCNA as a legitimate party.

 Works Cited

1. Joel S. Migdal, Strong Societies and Weak States (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1988), 15.

2. Robert D. Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy (New York: Random House, 2000), 44.

3. Misha Gleny, McMafia, (London: The Bodley Head, 2008), 248-249.

4. John Robb, “Primary Loyalties,” January 5, 2005.

5. Migdal, 32-33.

  1. […] regions where nation-building is occurring in a conflict zone, the importance of Migdal’s notion that social control is a form of “currency” that organizations compete against one another for is prominent. […]

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