Flipping Houses
A detour from data, down memory lane
![michael-shashoua-waters michael-shashoua-waters](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_750_463/public/import/IMG/317/167317/michael-shashoua-waters.JPG.webp?h=acfe3244&itok=ceJMABf4)
I love reading, but I'm sure there are plenty of classic novels I haven't read, or read so long ago that I don't remember them well enough.
Preparing to go to my childhood home one final time to clear out any last items left behind, and pay a final visit, before it's sold, the title of Thomas Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again" rings in my head. I can't say I've read it. I want to now.
This title, the words of it, have become a motto, a saying and maybe even a cliché, depending on your point of view, since the book was published in 1940.
Historian Susan Matt, who authored "Homesickness: An American History," defines the phrase as a recognition of how nostalgia makes people view the past with a positive bias, but also the phenomenon of being unable to see how time changes places and people—having a locked-in view of how they seemed, frozen in a past moment in time.
For a long while, I was probably locked in to a rosier view of my family's home in central New Jersey, retaining that perception through periodic visits since I started working in New York. In recent years, however, I started to notice the cockeyed electrical outlets that couldn't hold plugs properly anymore, the eroding wooden deck in the backyard, and the general fading and aging.
In her book, Matt challenges and questions the idea that homesickness is just a sign of immaturity, and is seen that way because American society, and also the wider world, value individualism, forward progress and restless movement. Those traits are not necessarily there in human nature and had to be learned though. The pull of home, or the idea of home, is always a strong force.
I've had my own home for several years now, an apartment found in 2008 as a blank, empty slate with bare white walls, and gradually filled with warmth, starting with paint colors I chose and probably too many possessions—but more importantly now, my own family, my wife and daughter.
So it's time to let go of that New Jersey house, accept its disappearance. The buyer is a contractor, who will fix its faults and likely overhaul most of what I remember about it. I won't be there to see that. It's time for others to make memories there, in the same way that I am now doing on my own.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Data Management
Reading the bones: Citi, BNY, Morgan Stanley invest in AI, alt data, & private markets
Investment arms at large US banks are taken with emerging technologies such as generative AI, alternative and unstructured data, and private markets as they look to partner with, acquire, and invest in leading startups.
The costly sanctions risks hiding in your supply chain
In an age of geopolitical instability and rising fines, financial firms need to dig deep into the securities they invest in and the issuing company’s network of suppliers and associates.
JP Morgan’s goal of STP in loans materializes on Versana’s platform
The accomplishment highlights the budding digitization of private credit, though it’s still a long road ahead.
As data volumes explode, expect more outages
Waters Wrap: At least for those unprepared—though preparation is no easy task—says Anthony.
CrowdStrike outage spurs rethink on ‘critical’ vendors
Some want US regulators to designate tech firms that pose risks to financial stability
Regulators recommend Figi over Cusip, Isin for reporting in FDTA proposal
Another contentious battle in the world of identifiers pits the Figi against Cusip and the Isin, with regulators including the Fed, the SEC, and the CFTC so far backing the Figi.
Déjà vu for common domain model
Piecemeal progress on ambitious derivatives data standard raises questions over business case
The IMD Wrap: With Bloomberg’s headset app, you’ll never look at data the same way again
Max recently wrote about new developments being added to Bloomberg Pro for Vision. Today he gives a more personal perspective on the new technology.