And there she was. The moment we started talking my brain clued in, this is no ordinary clerk at a used bookstore. I concluded she must be at least upper management filling in for somebody. I got more information about the courses from her in five minutes than all sources combined. We talked close to ten minutes, so the other five was a definitely “high compatibility” conversation. What a total babe. The semester ends next week, she’ll save me a phlebotomay workbook (new they cost $77) for my return.
As I left, she asked if I would consider a teaching position at the college. I said all my certification is outdated. But she said that might not be a barrier. Note all, I am not so much a teacher as an instructor. There is a difference. But who is that woman? I guarantee you, whoever she is, she is not just a cashier over there. Then again, you once had a guy like me working at a shoemaker's. I was also over there this morning and complete set up their digital TV system. Turns out the problem was their converter box and a dead battery in the TV remote.
The sidecar seat cushions are worn out, just too old for their own good. I peeled back the covering and there is a wooden frame that needs replacing. But I know nothing of upholstery, just like I once knew nothing about electronics, solar panels, sidecars, and batteries. Upon examination, I may be responsible for the deterioration of the wood by not having the tonneau repaired sooner. Engineers are geeks, but don’t try to outguess them on a completed design. The rotten wood is exactly where the tonneau used to lead.
Unless you watch such things, you may not have noticed the bump in investment when that bozo in Washington raised the interest rate on US Bonds by a mere fraction. That, folks, is what to expect if interest rates ever rise to normal. There will be a flood of cash back into the US market that has been flowing elsewhere for ten years. Result? Hyperinflation. Too bad I can’t tell you when that is going to happen. Only that it will. Have you gone shopping lately? That’s merely inflation, not hyperinflation. I’ll make it through just fine. In general, though, the average Yank thinks we are immune to such economic woes.
That’s very wrong. There are several brands of hyperinflation in my opinion. The common brand is where increased base level production costs rise through the system and hit the final consumer with the full marked-up price. But I see a unique American phenomena because we own most of the world’s money supply. I see a top-down inflation is much worse. Give the masses money and they’ll go spend it at Wal*Mart, whence it winds up back in China. Hyperinflation? Anybody holding money is about to get slapped around. Pensioners, elderly, it will be Weimar all over again.
And this is just another photo of the batbike to balance the look of today's blog. What, you didn't know I devote time to making the blog look good? You thought it was all just damn interesting information and the account of my thrilling life? You underestimate me.
ADDENDUM
What did I learn new today? Upon reading about microbes that thrive in a saltwater (marine) environment, I’d read about a comparison of salt concentrations in desert soil. Curiosity led me to a quick study of plants that grow in a desert. This is not a description of desert farming, rather only what I learned that is new that I didn’t know before.
For example, how long does it take before the sand dunes can grow plants? Three to four years. Bet you didn’t know that. Are you like me and thought the desert had to grow plants that humans would consume? Or is it better to grow forage crops and then dine on the animals raised on them? To find out any useful data, I had to leave America, which uses a brute force approach to pumping irreplaceable ground water onto laser-leveled desert. To find a scientific approach, I had to turn to the Negev desert.
Long before Israel existed, there was a research station looking at soils that were “uncultivable”. They not only mapped out the different types of soil, they imported soil and salt-resistant plants from every other desert in the world. It turns out desert soils are often very fertile with the addition of fertilizers that partially neutralize the salt. Trivia, Saudi Arabia has to import sand for pouring concrete as their own sand is too salty.
I also conclude that, like cancer research, desalination money is being wasted in the wrong direction. If something doesn’t work, you don’t throw millions more into it, you look at alternatives. It seems the desert research projects are seeking mechanical or electrical methods to remove the salt. And a hundred years later, still no progress.
An alternative may be not to grow directly in the desert, but to establish hydroponic gardens in the same area. In Qatar, hydroponics yields ten times as much produce as open field farming does in the Negev. But Qatar has the money to pursue that due to its small population. The Saudis gave up trying to grow wheat and now import it.
Another new concept I learned today was that no matter how clever you are with your desert farm, you have to deal with sandstorms. Big sandstorms. Zero visibility. The sand can bury crops in minutes and its weight can collapse buildings. Unlike snow, it doesn’t eventually melt away.
Last, and this was hard information to come by, what plants for humans grow best in the desert? Peppers, radishes, and carrots. Corn and strawberries will grow but require lots of water as do all fruits although oranges go easy on the aitch-too-oh. Animal crops? By far, the leading crop appears to be clover. However, I did not find that many definitive nor corroborating sources of today’s information, so your own research could turn up different facts.
Okay, one more item of trivia. Israel has the highest world per-capita consumption of turkey.
