March 11, 2014

           Originally, I was told the Dania Flea Market had moved to the casino lot across from Wally’s Folly, but it turns out it just for the boat show. Never believe what people at the flea market tell you. It isn’t a real flea market anyway, as you see semi-trailers labeled “West Coast Liquidators” unloading pallets of plastic crap that didn’t move elsewhere.

           Still, it would have been a significant shift of the market in this area if that big empty lot ever gets set up for some kind of real commercial use. Those swap meets actually draw a much larger crowd than the casinos and there are some places that should be paying attention to that. That’s the point I was making this morning.
           There has been biting editorial over how these flea markets are staffed by people on welfare or disability, working under the table. I agree, but it is also a tough way to make a living. Let’s peek at the situation in a more positive light. Are there any among us who disagree that small business is still the backbone of the economy? Not just US, but any economy. Small biz operators are the only people in the world who know how to do it right.
           Well, why waste billions bailing out banks and car plants that only employ a few hundred thousand at exorbitant rates? Flea markets are proof if you give people just enough to live on (what they get on welfare and disability), they have the incentive to get out there and cheat. And as long as they believe they are beating the system, they will spend all the cash they make. They can’t put it in the bank or invest it, or they cut off. So what if they believe they are scamming the system? They are boosting the economy far more than Detroit, who has been unsuccessfully trying to sell me a new car on credit for the past thirty years.
           Heads up what I’m saying. Welfare types will never go back to work when the best job they can get barely pays the bills. It probably costs the system many times over to keep these people fed than if the government simply put the money into a base level of income and let them have at it. At least they are working and they must have bought the table. Come on, DC, wake up and smell the coffee. There’s more swap meets than Walmarts and General Motors. Hey, I once worked for a Canadian company and fully understand how entire national governments can’t recognize individual motivation when they see it. So come on, quit trying to stifle incentive, and let’s reward those who show promise.

           Sorry, no quadcopter video. Win 7 has another nasty habit of rejecting my SD cards and corrupting the files. Thanks, Bill, I love you too. MicroSoft, 40 years later and they still can’t get the simple things right. I still have to unplug my printer and plug it back in. My scanner still has to be the first peripheral used or the system can’t find it. No, I don’t blame the scanner, I don’t think anybody intentionally builds a device that naturally loses contact with the host computer. Say bye-bye to eight minutes of video from this camera copter, thanks to the gang up in Nowheresville, Washington.
           These copters cost money, this puppy is around $500 and it is not the top of the line. For example, the camera is fixed and only has a range of 1,000 yards. And this model is geared for amusement, not robotic tasks. How so? Well, look at the fancy neon lights. Can’t see ‘em. That’s what I mean, they are most visible at night, which is not when you want to be flying these expensive toys. If you read back tomorrow, I’ll see if we can get some pictures of the dark, but it will be parked on the ground. This is not the Army, we don’t fly $12,000,000 drones into the ocean and cook up stories about it afterward.
           Ask me if it was another quiet evening? Naturally, since we are saving up a down payment over here. These things don’t come easy and there is a slim chance that I feel guilty that I can save money for buying houses and such while others can’t put food on the table. But that isn’t true. That I should feel guilty I mean. Are you nuts? Me? Feel sorry for people who live beyond their means. Which is about 90% of them.
           I watched another movie, “Foolproof”. Another fantasy of high-tech criminals, no basis in reality. Bonds are really stolen by whoever issues them hoping they will never be redeemed. But there is one terribly factual message in these type of plots that does work in real life. The best way to get away with stealing something is to replace it with a fake. When I worked for the corporation, everything in my house was top quality, right down to the fountain pens. End of question period.
           Here’s a question to get you thinking. Singapore Airlines, “A Great Way To Fly”. But fly where? Singapore is only 275 square miles and 12 of those are taken up by the airport. The per capita income is way up there at $62,000 vs. $52,000 in the USA and $43,000 in Canada. (For those who don’t believe the drunk is over, all of North and South America except the island of Bermuda come in less than the Falkland Islands at $55,000 per person.) But back to Singapore, where does an airline fly to in Singapore? Answer: they don’t. Only two flights, both non-stop to the USA, originate by Singapore Airlines from their home country. Most of their planes are based in California, Texas, and New York. Such are the workings of the air travel industry.
           What? Did I cause a little dismay about that thing on the Falklands? Cheer up, their entire annual product is only $160 million, second lowest of the 192 193 countries in the world. They just spread it out more evenly. Why not, there’s no place on the Falklands to spend it. Wait, I take that back. I have just been informed there is a movie theater at the RAF base in Mount Pleasant, 35 miles out of town. Huh? Which, you ask? The only town. Port Stanley.