Anonymity becomes anarchy

Almost all customer service reps in government and private companies now use fake names. Governments and companies do this to shield employees from threats by dissatisfied customers upset with decisions or service. I empathize with the need for protection, but this approach only treats symptoms, not the root cause. Unfortunately, anonymity creates other serious problems.

In my view, these have been greatly exacerbated by the explosion of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. I know several studies claim remote work has neutral or even positive effects on productivity. But these must be weighed against potential biases.

For example, the 2026 Remote Work Well-Being Survey (published February 5, 2026, by CoworkingCafe) reports mostly positive effects: 62% of remote workers say they get more done at home, and over half report better focus. Yet CoworkingCafe benefits indirectly but substantially from continued remote/hybrid work growth—as a platform that lists and promotes coworking spaces as a "solution" for remote workers needing variety or collaboration.

Since the pandemic, remote work has surged dramatically. In my experience and opinion, this has caused a clear drop in service quality from both companies and public authorities. I'm convinced remote workers often underperform compared to on-site work.

Remote setups make employees "invisible": shortcomings—or outright failure to do the job—rarely carry consequences. No consequences → private companies risk long-term decline or bankruptcy as frustrated customers switch to competitors.

This market pressure doesn't exist for government agencies funded by taxpayers. I believe they should face some form of competition too—so they actually have to earn their funding.

AI generated image with Grok

A month of Sundays

The world's most perfect husband has been receiving retirement money every month for the past 3.5 years from one of his private retirement plans. Although it's good that he has access to his own money, it felt a little terrible that he turned 55 and started receiving pension money.

At the beginning of the year, I received a letter from one of my pension administrators, which is completely normal since you always receive information about how the insurance developed during the previous year. What was abnormal was that they would pay out this insurance. Since I hadn't contacted them when I turned 55 last year, they were now going to sell the entire contents on my 56th birthday and wanted an account number for payment. I, who was convinced that I had chosen 65 as the first payment date for all my private retirement plans, was completely shocked.

When the worst of the shock had subsided and I was starting to look forward to investing this money that will arrive at the end of this week or the beginning of next, the world's most perfect teenager came with a request.

He will be taking his final exams for his IB Diploma Programme in April and May this year and was wondering if he could get a tutor. The exact same thing happened last fall when I received a small inheritance. Unaware that I had just received the money, he asked if he could get a tutor for his SATs. Since he did exceptionally well on the SAT exam, I cannot say no to this.

So once again a large portion of my money goes to the world's most expensive accessory...

AI generated image with Grok

We just don't speak the same language

The world's most perfect husband and I have been together for almost 32 years. Over the past year, we have spent pretty much every hour of the day together, and before that we worked side by side for 10 years. Spending so much time together has made us truly understand, unlike when someone says it, that men and women have very different ways of expressing themselves.

Despite this realization, I can still, albeit very rarely, get incredibly irritated with him when he doesn't understand what I mean or am trying to say. Aside from his lack of ability to express himself as a woman 😉 (Dr. Phil said it best; your husband is a man, not your girlfriend) I love him more than anything and can't imagine a life without him.

AI generated image with Grok

No free lunch during January

Assuming I haven't missed any announced special or supplemental dividend on any of our current holdings, we'll receive our first special dividend of the year next month.

It is Capital Southwest Corporation (CSWC) that pays a special dividend of ¢6 on March 31, 2026.

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Arrh

Although we will perform better this year compared to last year on a full-year basis, it annoys me immensely that not every month in the current year performs better compared to last year.

The reason for this is that we have sold some or parts of certain holdings, which has resulted in the month for the dividend being changed.

It's always a competition!

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