Welcome to SmartsMatter

“What I lack in smarts, I make up for in work…and given how hard I have to work, I must not be that smart!”–Greg hague

Rental Nation

“Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate.” -Andrew Carnegie You’ve probably heard of D.R. Horton. Dubbed “America’s Builder,” the company has been the

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Spending Oneself

It was the fall of ‘66. I was 18. Freshman year in college.  My friend Bob and I wanted to bum around Europe the following

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Draw Your Widest Circle

On March 13, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a national emergency. Lockdowns followed, and the world seemed to change overnight.  Trying to stay safe forced us to “draw

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Scope Creep

Scope Creep

It’s called the Chunnel(short for Channel Tunnel). Completed in 1994 after 6 years of construction, it’s a 31 mile undersea tunnel connecting England to France beneath

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A Ghost in the Kitchen

In 2015, Luis Mota opened his first Mexican restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He hoped to have lots of happy customers, so he named

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The Closest Distance

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” -Mark Twain The word “humor” (humour in Commonwealth English) dates back to the

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When Your Wife Says So

You’re at home about to fall asleep when suddenly you hear the faint shuffle of footsteps downstairs.  You’re single. No pets. No kids. No boyfriend. Nobody has

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Pull The Goalie

It’s a cold and rainy night in Atlanta. Terri is home alone with her kids when she hears a knock on the door. She answers

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Chubby vs Ramsey

Driving home the other night I had KTAR on the radio because I listen to Jayme West and Jim Sharpe going to the office each morning.

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Buying Bernsen’s

Last year I wrote an article that opened, “It can be difficult to buy a house without much money.” This year a more accurate line would be…”It can be

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Piece of Cake

Last week while having lunch with a friend, I could tell he was trying to ask me something but simply couldn’t spit it out.  So I

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Twice in Half

Many schools are closed across the country, and it could be a while before they fully reopen.   Schools systems have scrambled to make online education

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