One year ago today: August 27, 2014, working at being nice . . .
Five years ago today: August 27, 2010, roomie brings home more strays.
Six years ago today: August 27, 2009, REAL college advice.
MORNING
Here’s a shot of the afternoon after-shower flood at the shopping plaza. Never assume just because somebody in Florida knows how to pave a parking lot that they are smarter than you are. This water is three or four inches deep. You might think that knowledge concerning water running downhill is pretty universal, but here is another case where being just a little bit “prejudiced” would save you a pile of money.
Didn’t Ann Coulter have something to say about the media glorification of single-motherhood? I ask because I couldn’t hear Ann with that horrid Whoopie chattering like a monkey. She and that Ramos need to get together, maybe write an instruction manual on how to drown out the truth and find fake statistics. Like that lame statement that 40% of illegal immigrants arrive through airports. Like they can afford airline tickets, come ooooon.
I also painted panels, anticipating a couple of cool evenings to start bolting my new iPod together, the motorcycle camper. The majority of the new design is so compact, the work to date (except for drilling the metal) has been done beside my computer desk in the Florida room. This is why I am confident about building the (projected) motorcycle tow trailer myself. It’s called experience.
The next NPR article was, well, it is scraping the bottom of the media barrel. An interview with a Millennial whose parents were pornography writers. The father did the research, the mother typed the manuscripts. I listened to the little brat (now 30-ish) go on about himself. What a little twerp—unlike some of us, they provided him with a head-start in life and he should not be criticizing them on that level. There could be no doubt, despite his barbs, that his parents provided him with a good childhood, a decent education, and a house of his own.
The part that got me was his inability to talk to his parents openly about sex. Oh, poor baby, poor baby. Why not take my parents. The last people on Earth you would talk to openly about sex, except maybe for a few divorced women I’ve dated. Being totally indoctrinated about sex is not the same as knowing anything.
And such people always have advice on how much and what kind of sex other people are “supposed to have”. Right, Julia and Theresa? You two know exactly what I mean because that’s the only time anything comes out of your pie-hole that is about them and not you. I’ve heard both of you talk to your own kids, and even then, it is always all about you. Hold on. I just remembered both of you are single parents. Divorced, but same thing. It’s their attitude that comes with the territory.
NOON
Here the Jamus, all spruced up for the 2015 fall and winter biking season. Shiny new white sidewall in th efront, and there is my new bicycle seat. I may drill the stem and secure it with a cotter pin, in case I need to park it at the local library and such. If you have good eyesight, you can see that a thief has to make three cuts to steal my baby.
Dirty, dusty, greasy, and no standardization of parts. They are 1960s technology, where you need five or more sizes of wrenches and a box of other tools to do any real work on these things. I was also in the process of converting all my air equipment to universal adaptors, but in an all too familiar process, I was sold all three kinds to start with. Now I have to pay extra to switch over and I’ll wind up with a box of fittings too expensive to throw out that don’t quite fit but might work in a pinch.
And I found the wrench. When the doorbell rang, I slammed all my drawers closed (a good habit) before answering the door. It was nothing, but my wrench, by momentum, slid forward underneath my propane bottle where it was invisible until I moved things around. Now I can’t find the wire brush for my hand drill and I’m fixing the spare.
Yeah, I think my mechanic messed up on that tire. He says I must have picked up the nail (found on the inside of the tire) as I left his shop to drive home. If so, it is also the cleverest nail in Florida. Because it went through the exact same hole, lodged itself in exact alignment with the old tire puncture, and then covered itself with the exact same brand of spray goop I last used in Miami a month earlier. I’m building a trophy case for that, the smartest nail you’ve ever seen, and except for the US military, probably one of the most expensive, at $405.
EVENING
Amazing, a cool summer evening in Florida. That doesn’t mean anything special happened, since Florida is geared to doing nothing. There ain’t no permanent, sustainable productivity built into the system. Ain’t nobody got time for that. And in case anybody doesn’t know, it is illegal to take advantage of stupid people in Florida. That’s correct, it is the law. Unless you own a business, then you can manipulate student loans and stuff.
The next thing you know, I’m at the coffee shop putting the finishing touches on my “auction blitz”. We know we cannot win against the banks fair and square. But, we are not all in the same boat because my boat is not sinking. Every system has its own weakness and I’m sticking to my strategy. It says we don’t have to win the war, but just one battle. And I believe that is possible. The larger the foe, the more inflexible their system. We learned an amazing amount in the past 60 days.
One aspect we’ve seen is that the bank is clearly not accustomed to being regarded as “the opposition”. They react funny when they can’t “chum up” to you. We don’t shun them, but what I mean is they presume you want to borrow their money. Why, they are just nothing but friendly bankers who have absolutely nothing in mind except your personal best interests. To even question their motives is something they regard as a hate crime. And we have no intention of borrowing anything.
Anyway, I’ve devised a way we can use the leverage in the system they’ve designed to let them know we need them to “agree” to let us win one battle. And the spoils are a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom in a nice neighborhood. I have no idea if this will work, but it is legal and somebody will notice. And it’s a holiday for us.
ADDENDUM
That’s an eye-opener, the stock market stays volatile, but something seems different this time. Maybe it happens just as the Feds take the economy off life support (they printed up $4 trillion in counterfeit money and paid their bills with it). That will double prices shortly. But no amount of fiat currency is going to begin to address the problems in this economy. The decay has gone on too long for that kind of quick fix. We got 36 million people on welfare this time around and they’ve learned that working for a living is just a slightly slower death.
I’d pay more attention to China and Greece if I were most people. Any one default is now global. But you see, I turn my back for a couple of days to recuperate and silver drops below my buy point ($14) the instant I wasn’t looking. Proof once again that there are no investments that take care of themselves.
I can find no valid reason why the stock market has been climbing for over five years. Banks playing the market and new hipster money are not “valid”, guys. Stock brokers will always state falling prices are buy opportunities, but they would say that, wouldn’t they? The problem is, Mr. and Mrs. Public have no cash this time around and be damned if they are going to borrow it like they used to. Something about this whole situation is off. And that is that.
Ha, the Miami Herald is, quite predictably, claiming that that Ramos clown that disrupts political rallies of opposing philosophes. Can you think of anyone else who used this tactic? (Actually, he didn’t, that is propaganda, but the comparison is apt. The Herald champions this kind of spectacle, saying Ramos “single-handedly started the Hispanic backlash against Donald Trump. If that’s what they call backlash—one woefully misinformed loudmouth with mysterious sources (his statistics are exactly opposite of all other studies), the Donald should be okay.
Um, what do you mean, “single-handedly”? I think they mean he is working alone. And there is a reason for that.
Last Laugh
(You may have to click to enlarge.)
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