There’s glorious Florida sunrise for you. I’m not sure, this was around 7:00AM but we are far enough from the equator that there is still a period of twilight to throw off the exact timing. Now Venezuela, that is strange. When the sun touches the horizon, in one minute it is pitch black, you can’t see anything. I once got lost two blocks from my own house and only found it by bumping along a horse fence till I saw a window light.
Today is the birth date that I invented. If you see this particular date more often than others, it’s because I started the movement back in the ‘90s to fill out text boxes with this date in 1965 as your birthday. (Now changed to 1985.) In the early days of the Internet far too many people thought “required field” meant you had to give out personal information. On-line identity theft, the ultimate invasion of privacy, was not known back then, but I did predict the monumental rise in the abuse of this data by both criminals and the authorities.I have zero sympathy for those who did not listen. At that time, I had already outlined the pattern that the abuse would take, using the credit agencies as the bad example. Look what they have done to American society under the guise of catching a few bad apples. Credit reports have become a ritualized fear-factor with constant warnings in the media not to object, but to watch you’re a… er, I mean, score. And this exploitation of credit information (profiling) for other purposes is a given, thanks to public complacency.
Our first guitar showcase was less than a total success. Three out of five showed up, so with myself, that makes four. Twice as many people as in the audience at first. While I knew the players, none of them knew each other, which wasn’t the best arrangement either. I intend to follow up in January. The full three hours went ahead, with Electric Eddie playing the last set. One musician stomped out in a huff when his backing tracks were referred to as “canned music”. I thought I did a lousy job of my material though several said they liked it.
I stopped at Buddy’s for the Xmas party and spotted a gal too pretty to be by herself. I held back and watched. A wise move. Her ex was in the far corner stalking every move. Later, she removed a shawl and I saw the tattoos. I sang my tune and left. But I must say the lucky lady had a Robyn-like body, something increasingly rare in our over-fed society. Earlier at the mall I saw a school bus unload and was shocked to see how puffy fat the teen babes have become. And I see the classrooms are still shoveling out that “personality and good grooming” schlock.
I finished the 680 pages of “Warlord”, a splendidly written work by an obsequious admirer of British royalty. The fast-moving tale builds on western misperceptions over the workings of the Moslem mind. One should grant that they follow the Koran about as closely as Americans really follow the Bible. More for effect of reputation than for guidance. Bell’s plot is brilliantly clever, though I guessed the culprit right away because I had the advantage of once having stood on the spot the author described to a tee in the first hundred pages. Read it.
A scooter disappeared in front of the shop where I bought mine. They got overconfident about leaving things overnight without locking up, thinking the dog would keep the thieves away. Nope, and it is apparently the same gang who got my old unit. Same street, same method, same time of day. Now, for reading this far, I’ll get to the good news.
Here is the entrance to my hospital. I’m still dancing on air from my physical last week. When I return next week for the remaining results, I’ll ask about an exercise program. Both my doctors have heard many stories, so they tend to treat my reports of riding my bicycle 7,000 miles in five years as something I intend to to rather than an accomplished fact. Who can blame them? I need to loose some serious weight. Find me the right gal, it will be gone in three months.Bingo was a sellout success, or more accurately, the combined bingo and Xmas party. And thanks to Dec. 25th being a Sunday, I get next Saturday off. That’s probably the big party at JZ’s, unless it was this weekend and I missed it. I usually wait for the invite, it’s the custom not to just show up. Besides, even with my great medical this week, that doesn’t mean I have the surplus energy to be gallivanting around. Two hours of steady activity is still my upper daily limit. Still, what I can do in a couple of hours can put a few to shame.
My predictions for 2012 include inflation at 12%, and closer to 20% for the items real people buy. Imported food will continue to rise. Do not make any decisions that lock in any fixed dollar amounts; you will regret it in both the medium and long run. (I declined the Option 8 mentioned recently for this reason.) Invest what you can in metals, stay away from stocks and bonds. Don’t even think about buying anything like a car or any other major credit purchase. The dollar won’t collapse but it will take a few naughty hits. Unemployment will remain high and the politicians will be looking to start another war.
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