My first new eyeglasses in some twenty years are ready. I don’t wear glasses except to drive and to the movies. It follows each pair tends to last a long time. It additionally means I may go to “John Carter”, a film reviewed good and bad. So check back later, since I’m also going to make a full morning ride on the eBike for the extra exercise. Ah, spending money, afternoon movies, appearances, it is wonderful to have my oldest priorities slipping back into place.
Here’s the glasses. Molina says you can have them in any style you want, as long as it is gray plastic. All the better to see things with, and I see Wallace is back at the old place, some $10,000 in rent and expenses later. Gee, before too long, he’s going to have that $50,000 retirement home, with ensuite. How do you figure a guy that returns here in the summertime?Time to call my real estate lawyer. It seems I was never paid the $350 per month Wallace owes me for looking after the place for almost two years in his absence. My services don’t come cheap, you know. His only way out is to sell the place back to me, and that means taking a loss on everything he did wrong. That would not break many hearts.
What? You want to know if that color is gray or grey? That’s easy, both spellings refer to the same color in America. It is only Brits, Aussies, and Canucks that make any distinction, and even then, grey means a lighter shade of gray. You learn something here every other day.
[Author's note 2021: These glasses were stolen in the library in Yakima, WA.]
While downtown, I took the eBike to the dealership and showed them that despite their mechanic’s claim, there is enough room to retrofit balloon tires. This won’t be soon, as the tires are $50 each and require a special tube. I gave them a stern dressing down about their wild claims on battery life and mileage. The reality is you get 12 miles per charge effective, or half what is advertised. Even then, the last few miles are anemic. The balloon tires will make the bicycle impossible for me to lift (without removing the battery).
Furthermore, the batteries do not become conditioned after five full charges, as alleged by the seller. If speed is maintained above 9 mph even in pedal assist mode, the battery falls to the yellow zone after the first mile. Most people want to go faster than 9 mph and that means always running in high gear. In any case the bottom 3 to 4 gears have impractically low ratios. The advertising claims are clearly fraudulent. Under no circumstances will you get 22 miles on a single charge at speeds faster than a slow walk.
Silver is still around the $34 mark. At the historical ratio of 1:16 with gold prices, silver should today sell for $106 per ounce. (That ratio is long term, if one considers only the past 100 years, that ratio becomes 1:47.) Keep in mind, trying to store a significant amount of silver is impractical for it is plain too heavy and bulky. But silver is great for spending as people are familiar with the look and feel of coins.
And some final quick topics. Dekka isn’t closed up, just closed for renovations. I received an e-mail from Argentina to that effect this morning. Watch for a re-opening party. At least one reader recently got a blast of information over making what was probably a slight inquiry into one facet of this blog, right Mitch? Readers, be careful what you ask for, you may get it. Including the absolute fact this blog is not confined to what you see here on the Internet.
ADDENDUM
Why do I play bass with a pick? Carol Kaye, my bass hero, uses a pick. She doesn’t finger-pluck with that dippy looking limp-wrist style, therefore I don’t consider that real bass playing. Very few videos of her playing exist. In the best one, some dismal guitarist holds the neck of his guitar exactly so you can’t see her right hand. No guitarist that ever lived can match what Carol did. But there’s always one nearby to pull a stunt like that.
Return Home
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
