One year ago today: February 18, 2015, as Trump said later.
Five years ago today: February 18, 2011, your phone as tracking device.
Nine years ago today: February 18, 2007, three-handed Ford repairs.
Random years ago today: February 18, 2004, the babe & I.
MORNING
Yes, I have news. Who recalls my policy of checking back on former “done deals” to make sure they went through? You do? Good, because this morning a fixer-upper not only reappeared on the market, it was at a 20% discount. What does that tell you? Right, the former offer fell through and left the seller hanging. He just wants out of the market. I have an appointment to view the premises this Saturday. I have to trust nobody else comes up with the money—because I have the cash to wave under his nose. I told ya this would happen.
But it could now have transformed into the deal of the decade. I can easily meet the new asking price, but I’ll handily get him down another bundle. There will be no likely problems with the utilities, and I would have no problem living in a place bare to the walls while I renovate. That’s hardly new to me. This is not a mobile home, it is a full-fledged single family dwelling, stick-built in 1951.
The throttle cable for the batbike finally arrived, so that is also underway. JZ is down with major flu, along with all his brothers. He’s agreed to the trip but I’ll still see if the cable can be replaced by then. He was so stuffed and hoarse on the phone I had trouble hearing his words. This is representative of how circumstances gang up on you when you finally get something happening.
I’ll tell you what isn’t green. Greeting cards. Useless and a contrived “tradition”. I’ve gotten by fine receiving 3 or 4 cards total in my life. The cards mean cutting down several hundred thousand trees annually. Add in the chemicals and costs to make, pack, ship, and store the cards, and you’ve got pollution, both atmospheric and financial. Not to mention whatever is in the ink used to print them. Like jewelry stores, if everyone was like me, holiday and greeting cards would all go bankrupt in the next business cycle.
Sand dunes & gray gravel.
NOON
President Trump, I know you said executive orders are wrong, but they are justified sometimes. The Internet is sick and the disease is called advertising, particularly spyware, the major one of which is Adware Search.Know. It does nothing beneficial and most people would not want it on their computer if they knew how it operated. Please, Don, make a law that these outfits cannot infect your computer unless they get written permission from you and flash a warning every time the activate, and even then they must display a prominent “Permanently delete” option.
Money. There’s something we can all relate to and it is fun to talk money. Even with the bargain that is shaping up, there are definite flaws in my financials. If this incident flies, it will be a compromise between the fixer-upper I originally wanted and JZ’s advice to get something now, that is, to opt for security in any form no matter what direction the economy takes. I finally agreed, though I might not be so happy if, to prevent total collapse, the government repudiates all personal debt.
The upside is that if I buy now, it will be only a matter of months before I’m back on my feet. The picture indicates the confusion that is always a factor. And the talk out there is constantly that the entire real estate “recovery” since 2011 has been a media farce.
There is another facet that I’ll mention because it could prove so influential this year. While all this has been going on, JZ has taken particular note of the efficiencies of my budget system. He has become incentivized to adopt a few of my methods, although like many, he has an innate resistance to writing things down.
The logic goes something like, "How can you have as much of a good time as possible if you know in advance how much you are going to spend?" This is very common thinking. So when he chases women, it costs him five to eight times as much as when I’m around.
My point here is that our apparent parity in purchasing power is an illusion. Whereas this anticipated housing purchase strains my entire financial structure to its limits, well over two-thirds of JZs resources remain idle. If he adopts my best practices, he is going to completely outshine everything I’ve done since early 2011 in the upcoming seven or eight months. And he knows it.
Back to this purchase. To play it safe, I’ve called in every penny from every source, to be ready if my offer is accepted. Just in case, I’m asking for 60 days to pay. I’ll have an answer for you within 48 hours, so stick around for the ride. And finally, for a change, my offer was the first. The seller can hardly refuse my offer, since he is basically the one who made it. I have to move fast before he gets over any remorse and rethinks that 20% discount. If I miss this one, it won’t be due to any money delays.
NIGHT
I finally did get a word processor operating on my tablet without creating a Google account. It is Note 8 from Samsung, but like the Polaris Office Suite, you may not think it is worth it. They claim compatibility with Word and Excel. It has the same displays but the commands are different and the few that seem familiar don’t work the same. Polaris is particularly bad, because commands often appear, but don’t work. Like autofill. There is a chance I’m doing it wrong, but folks, I know precisely how autofill is supposed to work when doing its job.
I even tried to download a copy on my desktop, see if I could work it there and go back to the tablet. But it won’t let me log on unless I also log onto Facebook. Folks, if you are balancing bank accounts or any sensitive information, you do not want to be using a computer that even can log on to Facebook. Just don’t do it if you consider your information to be private. Myself, I use a debit card only to make round number cash withdrawals at the same ATM all the time. It’s a good habit.
This, folks, is why good old MicroSoft XP laptops are in such short supply. It is not like there aren’t millions of them out there. But if I had one, it would be a prized possession.
And that’s it for action. I’m still disoriented from the last trip and until further notice, bed time for me remains around 5:30PM. I’ve always said people should sleep when they are tired, but who am I to talk when there is no clock in my kitchen. Do you know of anybody anywhere who doesn’t? I guess what is happening there is that when I’m fixing a bite, I don’t really care what time it is. In fact, let me ponder that for a moment. Yep, I only have two clocks in the entire house, and one is an alarm that I so rarely use.
I have a wristwatch, but so does everyone. I was talking clocks.
ADDENDUM
The Libtards are alive and well, but rapidly losing ground. Boo to Fatihah, who is suing a gun range for refusing service on religious grounds. It seems Fatihah went to the establishment looking for trouble after he found out they had a posted “Muslim-free” sign. Case dismissed. Fatihah denies he was billigerent, but he would say that, wouldn’t he? Funny, these type of protests only happen in America, not in Muslim countries. I think people like Fatihah are like the man who beats his wife. He does it because it is a hell of a lot safer than going after her boyfriend.
[Author's note: air power can influence battles, but not win wars. The terror bombing of Germany did not break civilian morale and the Japanese were not awed by the atomic bomb. They were, however, cowed by the fact that one airplane could do such damage.]
Look up the facts if you want, but only 51 jet planes have been downed in combat since 1990, with another 3 probables. (This is for fighter jet vs. fighter jet combat only, General Armchair.) All were outdated models shot down by more advanced American weapons. But that is not enough of a sample size to predict what would happen if, say, the F-35, came up against the newest Russian or Chinese copies. Remember, American secret weapons have never been all that secret, since they let non-Americans work in the factories and design bureaus.
Thus, the more realistic approach is for Trump to build up an adequate national defense force. But as far as policing the world and overseas adventures, time to call it quits. Maybe a small cadre of experts to pinprick the bad guys who attack our allies, but do we even need allies any more. Since combat ceased to be man-on-man. These days, foes rarely even see each other.
No more “iron-clad” commitments to defend other countries free of charge. That’s S. Korea, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and England. Send ‘em the bill. Or they can fend for themselves. I can’t think of a single economic reason anyone would want to invade England. And as for “iron-clad”, you can ask the S. Vietnamese what America’s word is worth.
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