One year ago today: July 11, 2014, crime scene futon.
Five years ago today: July 11, 2010, pollen grain database, worldwide.
Six years ago today: July 11, 2009, happier days.
MORNING
What? I turn my back for one minute and Trump is in second place? And he got there by sticking to his guns, imagine that. To distinguish this blog from politics, I will once again say that I do not care for Donald Trump. But I agree with his stance that America is in big trouble and needs to start looking out for itself. Suffice to say if he does what he says he will, I would support him not as the President, but as a great leader.
She was another nobody to me until she started shouting matches with anyone who is not anti-Trump. What a loser. It took me ten minutes to find her name because I had no idea who she was and certainly never guessed something like her would ever be a television personality. I guess things have changed since I last watched TV. Here’s her before and after plastic surgery shot. She does not seem to be very well educated.
I draw the line saying the regular political issues do not interest me. But the idea of an upstart who paid his own way dismantling a corrupt and inefficient old boy network is something that fascinates me. Somebody who cannot be bought and is a supreme nationalist. Putting the population to work, getting rid of the illegals, clamping down on homos, and taking back what is rightfully ours. And not afraid to tell it like it is. There is something so familiar about all this. Why do I keep thinking of 1933?
NOON
“When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: 'Whose?' --Don Marquis
The new tube tire on the batbike was flat this morning. That’s the one where the repair cost me, what was it, close to $250 last week, including the tow. More of that learning curve. What happens is although you won’t wear the tire off driving it flat for a while, the inside of the tire can get rough enough to puncture the tube. The tire shop neglected to tell me that. I opted for a complete new tire.
Sadly, I have to give Harbor Freight my first bad report. Not of their product, but of quality control. It has become too evident they repackage customer returns and throw them back on the shelf. There is no way they are checking for damage. It is far cheaper to tell the customer he can return the article and charge him a 20% restocking fee. Upon checking my records, I’ve had to take back one of every seven purchases and it is not like driving there and back is exactly free.
There have also been too many instances of non-standard fittings, such as hose ends. Today I purchased one of those 5-gallon compressed air tanks, I mean, what can go wrong with that? When I got home, the one working part, the pressure gauge, was stove in. From here on, the policy is to open and inspect things before leaving the store. This is a bit dicey for them, as there is not really any other place to make this check except on the front sidewalk, which looks even worse.
One is that from driving JZ’s truck, I’ve found that only city driving gives me the heebie-jeebies. I drove all the way back from Arcadia a week ago without a twinge. But just weeks earlier when I drove seven miles in Deland, I felt symptoms coming on. Hence, if I buy a place in the country, it is fairly certain I’ll need a vehicle.
Two, I’ve run the numbers for buying places with the leftover auction money. It plain makes sense if we find suitable auction properties, it will not be anywhere along the southeast coast. That business is cutthroat so the interior makes more sense. Any place between Okeechobee and Winter Haven, both areas known to me, would be suitable. If I buy something there, I will be able to afford to buy and operate a small truck now instead of when I turn 66 years 2 months, as was planned.
NIGHT
The surge of houses coming on the market disappeared as fast as it arose. The rush is over, whatever that was all about. But what did come out of this was my look at auctions and a trip to the interior that was an eye-opener. I found an area that looks like east Texas, discovered I could drive in the countryside, and am poised to at least look into this degenerate “house auction” racket.
I worked late and did the budget projections (not normally due until October). These are not the same calculations as buying a place discussed earlier. I can’t really afford to keep living here, but I can highly afford to live up near Sebring. This plops me into the middle of the working class. I’ve lived in towns before where the highest IQ may run about 102, and he’s the mayor. Once again, I wind up at a destination by a completely different path than the locals and have few common interests with them.
I ran the numbers on the whole area from Okeechobee to Kissimmee, slightly different than where I’m looking to buy. It’s (or would be) a major relocation, but putting it off is not wise, either. While it is crazy to entangle your [fixed] retirement income in a place to die, old people don’t see it like that. Most of the time I spent recalculating tonight is how soon I’ll get my own money back out any such investment. About four years.
We’ve discussed the situation with the address we chose as a test case that was so suddenly highlighted by the bank. Hence, without a miracle, we don’t get it, as the bank has spent more on advertising that house that we have to bid on it.
That would leave some untouched money, to which I’m adding the unspent funds from the trip I could not take to Georgia last autumn. Remember that? I got as far as Ft. Lauderdale and a piston misfired. It was, indeed, an early symptom of that alternator that needed replacing, but I could not chance it. Well, there is $800 unspent dollars from that trip after I paid the $720 for the repair.
My point is, if the auction fails, do I invest the money in another place immediately, or wait? There’s never any experts around when you need them. JZ says wait, I say buy something and rent it out while we wait. Tourist season is approaching, there won’t be any deals along again until Spring. In eight months, we’ll be able to buy again. Under the guidance of my expert management services, that is.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to surge ahead. So many people want to hear this “racist egomaniac” that he has had to cancel his hotel speeches and book into convention centers and auditoriums. His appeal is similar, I think, to Rand Paul. But Paul wants to make gradual low-key changes working within the system. And of course, his political opponents love it when given plenty of time to conduct sabotage.
Trump also doesn’t mind being wrong. He states black and Hispanic crime in New York is 99%. Turns out it is only 97.6%. As his critics loudly pointed out. He says America is the most taxed society in the world, maybe he’s never heard about Canada. He asks when was the last time we won anything against Japan. I know what you’re thinking.
ADDENDUM
Have you gotten one of the new telemarket calls yet? The one where a live person pretends they are calling because you were “nice enough” to fill out a water quality survey or some bullshit. They just wanted to let you know they have a “twenty dollar gift certificate” for you, if you’ll drop by the store. In this case, Home Depot. Fat chance, bunch of scum liars. Can you see me putting my phone number on a survey card?
The drop comes when you say you are the wrong person. She says that is “so sad” and she “wishes it was you” because then you’d get the certificate blah, blah, blah. I told her what she could do.
Last Laugh
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