Rental car toll hack/DIY legal guidance/Flounder Mode

Recomendo - issue #471

Rental car toll hack

Rental car companies love to shake you down with their toll programs—- either pay an absurd daily fee (like $25/day!) for their toll service or risk getting slammed with massive processing fees if you hit a toll booth. But here's a money-saving move: register your rental car's license plate on The Toll Roads website before driving. I snap a photo of the plate and VIN (enter it here to get the car’s year, make, and model) at pickup and add it to my FasTrak account right there in the parking lot—takes 2 minutes. Set the start/end dates for your rental period and you're good to go. — MF

DIY legal guidance

Getting legal advice from a chat AI is an okay way to start, but you’ll need something more trustworthy to complete a legal deal. For 50 years I (and many others!) have relied on Nolo Press for legal guidance. Nolo offers fantastic guidebooks to common legal needs — from speeding tickets, to small claims court, to bankruptcy and divorce. In some cases they offer online forms and software to get what you need. I’ve used Nolo to create my own LLCs, partnerships and other legal entities. I also used their guide to change my name legally. They are very clear and trustworthy and much cheaper than a lawyer. — KK

Inspirational profile on Kevin Kelly

This essay on Kevin Kelly by Brie Wolfson, titled “Flounder Mode,” is my favorite profile of Kevin Kelly I’ve ever read. It perfectly matches my own experience of knowing him — a creator who is endlessly curious, prolifically generative, laid-back, kind, and genuinely happy. Equally compelling are Brie’s honest reflections about her career path, which invite me, as a reader, to reflect more deeply on my own choices and dreams. More than ever, I feel inspired to align my creative habits and decisions with what truly interests me. I recommend this to anyone interested in redefining for themselves the meaning of “greatness,” “ambition,” and “outcomes.” — CD

Headphone stand

This simple headphone stand is one of those "why didn't I get this sooner?" purchases. It keeps my AirPod Max headphones always within reach and has a weighted base to prevent tipping. I went with the metal version over plastic for better durability. A small upgrade that makes my workspace feel more organized. — MF

Bullshit Remover

Bullshit Remover is a fun tool to play with. Paste any block of text into the box and it will remove the “crap” and give you back the truth behind all the words. — CD

Favorite quotes

Time for some more quotable quotes:

• The patient inherit everything the impatient leave behind. — Shane Parish

• Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could. — Rudiger Dornbusch

• I wouldn’t have seen it, if I didn’t believe it. — Marshall McLuhan

• There are two kinds of people in the world… and who is not both of them? — James Richardson

• Everything that moves will be autonomous — Jensen Hwang

• Knowing what you’re doing is way overrated. — Pope.L

• A cartoonist is someone who has to draw the same thing day after day without repeating himself. — Charles M. Schulz

• You have to be unreasonable to see the world that doesn’t yet exist. — Will Guidara

• If I knew where songs came from, I’d go there more often. — Leonard Cohen

I offer these as small mind-tickles to remind you of what you already know, but have forgotten. — KK

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