One year ago today: August 8, 2014, scooter varnish.
Five years ago today: August 8, 2010, bingo, day 365.
Six years ago today: August 8, 2009, bingo, day 0.
MORNING
Here is a photo of a pier along the Peace River estuary. Those are clouds on the horizon, as there are no hills in Florida. Note the causeways to North Port and the blue water, all of which would have been in our back yard (figuratively) had we found an honest real estate agent. That’s JZ going for a walk as we take a break after finding out the disappointing truth about the house for sale.
“Due diligence” is a curious phrase. But what it does not mean is that real estate agents can take pains, including intentionally incomplete answers to cover up bad aspects of a property for sale. JZ and I succeeded in finding out only because we went the extra mile to uncover what was being hidden. And what the agent was specifically avoiding to say despite direct questioning. Yet, under Florida law, this type of misrepresentation is legal. So what if it borders on fraud?
Too many [sellers] take “due diligence” to mean they do not have to truthfully answer questions. That it is up to the buyer to go through hoops to find out what is wrong while the seller has every right to conceal any defects they possibly can. Of course, when I asked if it was a safe place to live, I meant it the usual way. But he still said yes, knowing full well the best possible escape routes from the nearby prison (to the coast, the highway, or the railroad) all pass within 200 yards of that property.
It is also evident that the entire town of Punta Gorda, right down to the children, have learned to never mention to strangers about that jail, which houses 960 convicted criminals with only one guard for every 64 inmates. Here are the three major reasons we did not buy that house, although you should not get the impression they were all clear and spelled out for us. Heck no, it was only when we found one lie that we pursued the others.
A) The property was too near a dangerous prison.
B) There was no water pipe to the property.
C) The “updated” pictures in the real estate ad were seven months old.
If you have a moment, ponder the discovery process we had to go through, for it took us hours to peel that onion because of the cover-up going on. Why was a perfectly good house standing vacant for seven months? Ah, no water. You know, technically, I owe JZ a thousand bucks. Because I bet him the pipe was there somewhere, but the city had just disconnected it for non-payment. So he was right, I was wrong. No water.
On the other hand, if I had not been so curious where that single lane old roadway three blocks south was headed, we would not have discovered the “motel” structure was really a prison. Now you know why we work as a team. Because we continually have to deal with “due diligence”.
NOON
Here is the day’s big event. We got the rear tire off the motorcycle without paying. Everyone looks at the sidecar and balks, but who remembers Altus, Oklahoma two years ago? They had said the same thing, that I should go have a coffee and wait. But they called back in twenty minutes to say the job was done. So I knew it was not that complicated.
Of course, like the robot club, most of what we do is merely an opportunity to make plans and trade knowledge. We completely discussed the future of our house-buying plans. And made up a pro forma budget that takes us to the beginning of June 2016.
We are going to limit the amount we save rather than increase it, which probably doesn’t make sense to the average person. Which is good. And part of my duties will be to manage a bank account so that the bank concludes we are the finest of money managers. When in fact it will be much the same money flowing back and forth.
Why? Because although we have no intention of borrowing money, we’ve discovered people will do a “credit check” on us every chance they get. That is dirty pool. Since they are acting without our permission and against our will, we can be forgiven for setting them up by manipulating what they look at. They are sneaking around behind out backs, so we give them something to find. I know precisely how to play that game: they will conclude we are filthy rich. And—now this is important—we also know that is usually the point where they quit looking. In America, rich people are good people, that is all ye need know.
EVENING
I decide it is finally time to discover how an air conditioner pump (compressor) works. I take and cut the pipes from a completely drained old unit. Brilliant, except for one eentsy problem. Those pipes had been crimped, trapped a bunch of freon inside the compressor tubes. So when I cut it, it was fun watching my curtains, arm-chair and front hallway get a bath of the oil or whatever they put in the freon. Has a neat kind of chocolate-smell to it, you know.
He was ready to get up there until I told him you really had to sing. What? You mean it isn’t lip-sync? Actually, that is a compliment because my singing was so close to the original, he didn’t know it was me. As for the lyrics, he did not know they were displayed because I don’t read those either. I have enough courtesy to memorize the songs I’m going to perform.
Now, we were there two hours, during which not a single worthwhile woman walked in the place. Too bad, it was a nice place to meet women before the current management took over. Now JZ swears there was a tall, good-looking redhead “with her hair tied back in a bun” that was giving me the eye, and I ignored her. For the life of me, I don’t know what he is talking about. I would never ignore a good-looking lady.
However, he also said she was better looking than my ex-wife, so I know he was exaggerating. Ain’t nobody better looking than my ex-wife used to be. She’s still a fox. I married her for her looks and that means physical perfection. And there was nobody in the Karaoke bar last night that come even like 1% close. Still, JZ never makes this kind of thing up.
ADDENDUM
I also say the Trump is going to be president simply because he is not a politician. It is politicians who ruined this country and he does not like politicians, or their tools, big media. The ones who conduct fake polls and have serious mental problems when composing survey questions. “Are you against Trump or are you a racist Nazi?”
Myself, I’m more concerned about what is going to happen when the trillions of fake dollars start reaching “the corners of the empire”. Those trillions that were pumped into the banks during “quantitative easing”, another term for printing up money. Those dollars were filtered through the banking system, and for once in the bank’s defense, I will point out even banks who wanted nothing to do with such nonsense were forced to take the money. So that people could not figure out who was doing the laundry.
Last Laugh
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