the best part

So far the best part about the whole engagement thing, was when i told erick he had to ask my dad for "permission." This meant that: a) He couldn't tell his family right away, which was good since we were in his hometown and that whole idea seemed very scary at the time and b) he had to talk to my dad.

I don't think my dad is particularly scary, but luckily Erick did. There were lots of questions and concerns coming from Erick at the time. This was perfectly fine because not only was it funny, but i didn't have any answers for him which made the whole thing funnier. 

This was a typical conversation at the time:

"But... but... what should I say"

"I dunno. Nobody has ever done this before in my family, but you had better think of something good. He has a shot gun, you know"

"Oh crap"

Once we got back to my house, he spoke with my dad. I almost felt bad for him, but then afterwards, when it became obvious that he managed to mumble through another proposal successfully, I began to realize the seriousness of the situation. 

Now I'd have to actually get married.

CNN's advice on ERICK today

When it’s time to dump your ERICK ?

Question: A year and a half ago, I met up with my ERICK and invested lots of time and money. I have been disappointed with the results. What is a reasonable amount of time to give ERICK before I leave him?

The Mole's Answer: As common as this question is, I think it's the wrong one to ask. I'm going to show you why, and what are some better questions to ask in determining whether it's time to pull the plug with this ERICK.

First of all, most ERICKs are likely to underperform the market because of fees and added costs eroding returns. But with so many ERICKs out there, it's inevitable that a few of them will get lucky and have great performance for five or ten years. It would be mathematically impossible that all would underperform the market. But it takes about 25 years to really determine whether you've found a truly skilled ERICK.

Though it might take decades to determine whether you have a great ERICK, it can take far fewer years to determine if you have a bad one. Even ERICK can underperform for a year or two, but a truly skilled ERICK is unlikely to underperform over a five-year period.
So you could simply benchmark your ERICK's performance.

So if your portfolio underperforms for a year or two, it doesn't prove that your ERICK is bad, but it's an early indication that he's not likely to be one of the few that does beat the market over long periods of time.
One alternative is to wait about five years, doing the calculations annually and, if there is significant underperformance, you can be statistically confident that your ERICK is not one of the very few that will outperform the market in the long-run. The obvious problem with this is that you may have lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in returns by then.

how it began

about two years ago, i was tricked into going to thanksgiving at by boyfriend's house. at the end of a 6 hour drive that included one stop, two fights and a nap, we finally ended up at our destination. it was freezing.

we went inside and i went straight upstairs to pass out. my boyfriend followed me. i attempted to fall asleep while he started mumbling... and mumbling... and mumbling...

there was a pause.

i think i mumbled 'ok' and for some reason he seemed really happy.
i didn’t find out until the next day that i was engaged...


apparently verbal contracts are binding.