Housing markets where homebuyers have gained the most power, as told by days to pending
The typical U.S. home listed for sale in May 2026 went pending in 18 days—3X longer than the 6-day national median recorded in May 2022, Aaccording to Zillow's series
via @ResidentialClub
If you're looking for fabrics that you can wear in the summer, it's useful to consider three things: weight, weave, and fiber. If you only pay attention to one of these dimensions (say, linen), you will miss the bigger picture.
Let me show you. 🧵
Michael Crichton is such a fascinating figure and it is a goddamn shame he died so young
This guy got into Harvard Medical School and said "actually, I want to write stories" so he wrote one of the most harrowing long short stories, the Andromeda Strain.
This guy was addicted to research. He read scientific journals for fun and researched everything that captured his interest. He was curious and skeptical. He thought hard about the implications of technology all the time.
And, instead of being a dork and writing a blog, he wrote entire novels warning about the dangers of emerging technologies. And they were great!
He wrote a `Prey` about the dangers of combining AI with nanobots 24 years ago. It's tremendous. You could publish it today and it would be relevant.
I miss him. I miss technically competent authors who can spin a good yarn while informing the reader about how technology is changing the world.
Crichton was a generational talent and we are poorer for his absence.
What daily life actually looked like in ancient Rome:
1) Romans woke at sunrise and began work immediately. There was no concept of a weekend.
2) Romans ate a light breakfast called the ientaculum — typically bread, cheese, olives, and watered wine. The main meal came in the late afternoon.
3) The average Roman citizen lived in a cramped multi-story apartment called an insula, not a villa.
4) Public bathhouses were social hubs where Romans discussed politics, made deals, and gossiped daily.
5) Romans did not use soap. They scraped oil and dirt off their skin with a metal tool called a strigil.
6) Garum, a fermented fish sauce, was the most commonly used condiment in Roman cooking.
7) Street food was the norm. Most apartment dwellers had no kitchens and ate from roadside stalls.
8) Romans had no concept of quiet at night. Cities were loud, crowded, and lit by oil lamps.
9) Gladiatorial games were free to attend. Emperors used them to maintain public approval.
10) Life expectancy was around 25 to 35 years when accounting for high infant mortality rates.
11) Slaves made up an estimated 25 to 40 percent of the population of the city of Rome at its peak.
12) Romans brushed their teeth with crushed bone, oyster shell, and sometimes urine for whitening.
13) Women had no vote and limited legal rights, but wealthy women exercised significant social influence.
14) Roman men wore tunics daily. The toga was formal wear reserved for public ceremonies and civic occasions.
15) Children began working or apprenticing as young as age seven. Formal schooling was only for the wealthy.
16) Romans drank wine mixed with water at almost every meal. Drinking undiluted wine was considered barbaric.
17) The city of Rome had a population of over one million people at its peak, making it the largest city in the ancient world.
18) Fire was a constant danger. Insulae were built from wood and packed tightly together, making entire districts vulnerable.
19) Roman doctors performed surgeries including cataract removal, tooth extraction, and cesarean sections.
20) Public toilets existed across the city but had no partitions. Romans sat side by side with no privacy.
21) Graffiti covered the walls of Pompeii and other Roman cities, ranging from political slogans to insults and love confessions.
22) Romans celebrated over 40 official religious festivals per year, many of which were public holidays with games and feasts.
23) Chariots were banned from city streets during the day due to congestion. Deliveries happened only at night.
24) Roman engineers built a road network spanning over 85,000 kilometers across the empire, many sections of which still exist today.
25) A Roman soldier marched up to 30 kilometers per day in full armor and was expected to build a fortified camp at the end of it.
This guy just found out he’s been using the screen door stopper wrong his entire life... and so have I 😭
He always slid that metal piece all the way up to hold the door open… until an old man casually showed him the real way.
Have you been doing it wrong all along too?
A woman hiking in Canada nearly became a grizzly’s next meal and the video circulating right now is genuinely one of the most intense wildlife encounters you will ever watch - her dog is with her, a massive grizzly is right there, and somehow she kept her head together long enough for both of them to walk away breathing.
That is not a small thing. Most people talk tough until nature is standing ten feet in front of them and every instinct in your body is screaming to run, and running is exactly the worst thing you can do.
Grizzlies are built to chase, they top out over 700 pounds and can cover ground faster than any human alive. The people who survive these moments are the ones who override pure fear with pure discipline and this woman did exactly that.
If you hike, camp, or spend any real time in the wilderness - bear spray is not optional, it is the difference between a story you tell and one somebody else tells about you.
Could you have kept your cool?
Hats off to her.
🥇Otro nivel
· Gion 🇯🇵 (Kioto antiguo)
· Plaka 🇬🇷 (Atenas bajo la Acrópolis)
· Old Town Edinburgh 🇬🇧 (piedra + niebla)
· San Telmo 🇦🇷 (tango + historia)
· Beacon Hill 🇺🇸 (ladrillo y faroles)
· La Candelaria 🇨🇴 (color + montaña)
Basado en ↓↓
Una profesora de Stanford lleva 20 años estudiando por qué algunas personas tienen más suerte.
Su conclusión: la suerte no es azar. Es como el viento: hay que ponerle vela.
Si quisiera tener más suerte, haría estas 7 cosas:
1/ Salir de mi zona de confort con micro-riesgos.
I answer every sales call 90 seconds late on purpose
Not because I'm busy. I'm sitting there staring at the screen watching the seconds tick. 90 seconds. then I join
"sorry about that, was wrapping up with another client"
that sentence has made me more money than any pitch I've ever written & here's the psychology behind why it works:
When you show up on time the prospect assumes you were waiting for them. waiting = available. available = not in demand. not in demand = "maybe I can negotiate this price down"
When you show up 90 seconds late with "wrapping up with another client," three things happen in the prospect's brain simultaneously:
(a) this guy has other clients (social proof)
(b) this guy is busy enough to run over (demand signal)
(c) I got him to show up despite being busy (I must be important enough for his time)
all three of those reframe the entire call in your favor before you've said a single word about your offer
90 seconds is the number. I tested this
30 seconds late: nobody notices. no effect
60 seconds: slight effect but feels like normal lateness
90 seconds: the prospect is just starting to wonder "is he coming?" & then you appear. maximum psychological impact
2+ minutes: they're annoyed. you lost them. the goodwill is gone
there's a 30-second window between "anticipation" & "disrespect" & it lives at exactly 90 seconds
here's what else I engineer on every call before the pitch even starts:
1... The background noise trick
I take calls from places with ambient noise. not loud. just enough that the prospect can hear something in the background. a coffee shop. a hotel lobby. airport lounge energy
the noise communicates: "this guy is somewhere. he's moving. he's living a life that's happening around this call, not because of it"
compare that to the dead silence of a guy sitting in his bedroom with a ring light. the silence screams "I have nothing going on & this call is the most important thing in my day." the prospect can FEEL that & it shifts leverage immediately
I bought a $12 ambient noise app that plays coffee shop sounds through my speakers. not loud enough to be distracting. just enough to place me "somewhere" that isn't a quiet room waiting for this call
2... Never share your screen first
most mfs hop on & immediately go "let me share my screen & walk you through..." -> you just became a presenter. a salesman giving a demo. the prospect leans back & evaluates like they're watching a webinar
instead I keep my camera on & TALK for the first 15 minutes. no slides. no deck. no screen. just a conversation between two people where I'm asking questions & they're describing their problems
when I finally share my screen at minute 15-20, the dynamic is completely different. the prospect has been talking, investing, revealing. the screen share feels like evidence supporting a conversation that's already happening, not a pitch being delivered to a stranger
close rate with screen share at minute 0: 14%
close rate with screen share at minute 15+: 38%
3... Ask for a favor before you pitch
Somewhere in the first 5 minutes I say: "hey quick thing, do you mind if I record this? I like to review my calls to make sure I don't miss anything important you said"
they always say yes. but that's not why I ask
asking for a small favor triggers the Ben Franklin effect. the person who does YOU a favor likes you more than if you did THEM a favor. their brain rationalizes: "I helped this person, therefore I must like them." it's backwards but it's documented in every psychology textbook for the last 60 years
one question. 4 seconds. the prospect now likes me 15-20% more for the rest of the call & has no idea why. plus I actually do review the recordings which is how I built my objection database but that's a different post
4... End 8 minutes early & stand up
at the 22-minute mark on a 30-minute call I say "I think we've covered everything. I'm going to send you the proposal tonight. you'll have 72 hours to review it. any questions before I jump?"
then I physically stand up so my camera angle changes. they can see I'm leaving. the call is OVER. not winding down. over
standing up communicates: "I have somewhere to be." ending early communicates: "your 30 minutes was not important enough for me to fill." both of these are status signals that make the prospect value the interaction more BECAUSE it was scarce
the mfs who fill 55 minutes & end with "so... any other questions? no? okay well... let me know!" are telling the prospect "I had nothing better to do for the last hour." & that's a pricing signal. the guy with nothing better to do charges $5,000. the guy who stood up at minute 22 charges $40,000. same information. different frame
every call is a performance. not the words. the entrance, the background, the timing, the exit. the pitch is maybe 20% of why someone buys. the other 80% is how you made them feel about the person delivering it
I'm 90 seconds late to every call I take. it costs me nothing. it reframes everything
ive done millions in sales off X organic... real offer + money to invest -> dm me or yegor. com
everyone else, next call you have, join 90 seconds late. say "sorry was wrapping up with another client." change nothing else. see what happens
study this
Chinese Gen Z slang operates on pure chaotic energy 🌪️
You can say a completely normal sentence that makes flawless grammatical sense, but it actually means absolutely nothing.
It is the art of using controlled nonsense to dodge serious adult conversations. 🌽
Which one is your favorite vibe?
[Useful Words]
• 抽象 (chōuxiàng) — abstract; surreal
• 抽象话 (chōuxiàng huà) — abstract / surreal internet slang
• 牛肉 (niúròu) — beef
• 我不吃牛肉 (wǒ bù chī niúròu) — I don’t eat beef
• 玉米 (yùmǐ) — corn
• 我的玉米 (wǒ de yùmǐ) — my corn
• 好家伙 (hǎo jiāhuo) — well, damn; wow
• 我好了 (wǒ hǎo le) — I’m fine now; I’m cured now