One year ago today: November 30, 2014, the cramped Idaho Bedroll.
Five years ago today: November 30, 2010, early “auction” comments.
Nine years ago today: November 30, 2006, the duct-tape wallet.
Random years ago today: November 30, 2008, I hate yard work.
MORNING
Ah, what do you know. The exact place I referred to last Wednesday in Mulberry was sold this morning, around an hour before I put in my low-ball offer. Since it’s unlikely somebody is following JZ and I around to find these places, it’s safe to say other people are targeting the same types of places we are. If it looks like a cabin or a cottage, it sells these days. Another property missed by mere minutes—but we now know others have the same tastes as I do.
That’s my lecture, how does one operate at a surplus? I’m glad you asked because I’ve been trying to explain this to JZ for ten years. The best way is to take control of your money. Few of us would miss 1% of our income, yet the majority of people never seem to be able to set that much aside. Every time you get a few grand ahead something comes along. Am I right? Sure, I am, but this also refers back to how I’ve said investments must be protected. And preferably hidden.
Having said that, you cannot possibly get ahead by obeying the law, but that is a different animal. If I made $100 this month and put away 1%, or $1, and invested it, I would have more actually invested than most people ever will. Yes, I will still get flat tires, still get sick, still replace hot water tanks, but I know not to touch that $1 – it is an allocated sum. It is spent as surely as if I had bought a lottery ticket. Still with me?
Again, the difference is I do not treat that $1 as a piggy bank. It is surplus money, and if I invest it in the right thing, it will still be there when that commodity or event skyrockets. The investment is protected, and it was only 1% of my income. The difference is, I’ve done that year after year, until my investments are n times greater than my income. My ship hasn’t come in yet, but I’ve got my eye on silver. Which dropped to $13.95 over the weekend, if there had been any silver left in town, I would have bought it as fast as I could.
One additional factor, I do not invest. I am too old for that. I speculate. What has held me back for the past five years is market manipulation. Except for high-risk stocks, the real money market (gold for instance) has stayed the same. That alone is the most unusual of circumstance, I could not possibly have foreseen the market would do the one thing it never does: stand still. But it just means when the explosion happens, it will be that much worse.
NOON
The back yard is getting organized. That’s my nice shelves in the background, against the shed. That’s Agt. M’s shelves in the foreground that he was supposed to come and pick up by y’day at the latest. I’m busy shopping for a water heater this morning. And where is JZ? The world wants to know. I think he has been on time once in 16 years that I recall.
Today, I had to contact the DMV to find out where my money went. Strange as it seems, the DMV system is as close to the Canadian system as you can legally get in the USA. Both are full of people who never win and never will, but that does not stop them from inconveniencing you whenever you don’t do things their way. That is why I wrote the full tax information on each document—so when things go wrong, it is definitely their fault. And by god, do they hate it when you do that.
The system in Canada, I’ve already described, but it bears repeating. While you can sue in Canada under much the same set of laws, the bureaucracy over there goes overboard to discourage litigation. They do this by drastically favoring the plaintiff (it is your fault for not being careful enough) and by senseless limits on awards. They make ridiculously low settlements where America makes large ones. In Canada, some goof can scar you for life and you might get $8,000 out of the courts.
Couple that with the Millennial generation and they’ve got trouble. I went through the ritual of printing letters and envelopes on my ink-jet printer. Only an inbred stupid Millennial could have designed the printer to work that way. I can do it automatically, but it is something like 17 steps to get the job done for each letter/envelope set. The sad part is, these Millennials know what you want but can’t leave it alone. They think they are the generation that discovered computers, so anyone who went before doesn’t know the “right” way to do things.
Oh, when I say inbred, I don’t mean incestuous. I mean of a national character, the degenerate mindset within a tribe too small for too long that new ideas seem dangerous. Canadians are inbred to think vigilantism is normal. The entire system is geared to keeping an eye on each other, but what do you expect from the English. If you think America’s politicians don’t represent the people, go up to Canada, where such obscene behavior is mandatory to work for the government. At every level, even the post office. And I’ll say it again, there is no such thing as privacy or personal freedom in Canada. The RCMP is one of the most corrupt political police forces that ever existed, worse than the Gestapo. Ask Ernst Zundel or Charles Vernon Meyers.
How may have been tasered to death so far up there? Twenty-six dead? The cause of death is usually listed in a police report as “excited delirium”. I have several issues with that. I would rather see the hospital report, not the police version, and there is no such medical state as “excited delirium”. You may also notice that the victim is always male. Could be females NEVER resist arrest--that, or the RCMP have, ahem, reasons for never charging them for that crime in particular, type of thing.
Ah some say, many are city police, not state police. Trust me, in Canada there is no difference. How can I state they are worse than the Nazi secret police? That’s easy, the SS generally used their power to root out enemies and saboteurs. They were not known for turning those powers on the German populace at large. The RCMP, on the other hand, is seeking the authority to conduct electronic surveillance on the average citizen without a warrant. It was in the newspapers y’day.
Remember, the Mounties always get their man. That all too often means the man they wanted to get, not necessarily a man actually guilty of committing the actual crime in question. Ask Albert Johnson. (They shot him up the ass and gave themselves a medal for bravery.)
AFTERNOON
Rain or no, I tackled that back yard and got the remaining shelving either put up against the work-shed or dismantled and leaning out of the way. Hard work, because I can’t tell you how disappointed I am with that Ryobi battery. The only time-critical task I’ve done this season and it craps out on me. That was bought new earlier this year. Damn if I now have to start putting the month as well as the year on tool batteries. This baloney always happens when there is no real competition.
Which didn’t stop me from getting a political telemarket call. What? Oh, you mean when I get down off the ladder to answer the phone, there are people actually so stupid they think I care what type of unsolicited call it is? Now THAT is stupid. The people who make such calls are serious sub-humans without an ounce of dignity or respect. I mean, real humans can’t stand being told to FO over 150 times a week without questioning what they are doing.
Next task is that hot water tank. It has to be done. The other one is leaking and it won’t be long before the landlord or his lackey spots it. Maybe tomorrow, but I still have not located a replacement. Tankless is the way to go, since I don’t plan on living here long enough to find out if these things, well, tank, the week after the warranty expires.
EVENING
Is there anyone still in doubt at least somebody on Trumps staff is following this blog? If so, listen to his speech in Macon y’day. What did I say about him moving to boycott or ban ultra-Liberal press from his rallies? He’s not gone that far, but there are other ways of accomplishing the same thing. I’ll state again, I am not pro-Trump, but I am vehemently against the political status quo that does not represent the will of the American people. Thus, I will support anybody or anything that goes up against the rotten establishment.
Right or wrong, Trump is speaking what an obvious overwhelming segment of the American people want to hear. I see he is directly admonishing this CNN entity for lies, bias, and I would say the next step is libel. If they are outright lying, it should be considered. I don’t know, I’ve never seen CNN. Is it a station? A newspaper? A person? I have no idea. But whoever they are, my question to them is what part of “majority” don’t they understand? What? You are right, but I didn’t ask if they liked it, I asked if they understood, because they plainly have huge difficulty with the concept.
It is time to outlaw the professional politician. And that is a step to outlawing politics altogether. People who need to be led on a daily or moral basis don’t belong in a democracy. This Libtard nonsense of avoiding issues by never bringing them up has backfired and it is fun to watch them do the worm-squirm. I've always been against bleeding-heart Liberalism, mainly because it is such a phony premise, this political forcing others to pay for pet "feel-good" programs that the majority are against. My position is that most Americans have always been against 90% of what DC does, from wars to taxation.
What ran up the flagpole tonight? JZ’s position buy now, worry later. You and I have discussed this, probably behind his back, but he says buy what is affordable now. That’s a strong demographic argument, and it is an argument, not like a panel discussion. The economy is volatile and that’s way different than expanding or contracting. If you can’t predict a thing, buy what you can now if you have the moolah. Yeah, well it’s my moolah and if anything goes wrong at my age, it is irreplaceable. (Yes, but how much of the stuff are we talking about? Even JZ doesn’t know. Think lower 5 digits. No, a little lower yet, what are you , some kind of optimist?)
So I fell asleep in the chair and woke up to yet more anti-German propaganda, a NG “documentary” on the “valiant” French resistance. It focused on the killing of civilian hostages. Listen to me folks, these “valiant” Frenchmen were breaking French law, German law, and international laws, all of which carried the death penalty. Nobody with a camera seems to have the marbles to point out these cutthroats were killing German soldiers just as indiscriminately as the hostages were picked in retaliation. We only hear one side of the story, but then, we all know who tells National Geographic what to do.
ADDENDUM
The secondary topic is band or music philosophy. The overwhelming advice I’m getting is saying to hell with a “band”, that I should push my own agenda. For clarity, they are saying get into any band and just do what the guitar player is doing. He’s trying to dominate the stage and be the top performer. What I’m being told is that as long as I explain that in advance to any prospective band-mates, then they lose all recourse except to quit. Which is functionally equivalent to never joining in the first place.
Hence, I’ve nothing to lose. The smart voices are telling me to hell with decorum. Explain to the guitar player that I will be doing what he is, which is everything I can to be the best person on that stage, and that he is welcome to compete—as long as the music doesn’t suffer. That’s why I’ve been twirling this business card in my hand. The guy is totally unreliable, and ex-con, and always in some kind of dutch or trouble, but he shows up and plays. Because he needs the money.
I’m thinking.
Music is not the place to make friends on the way. On the weekend, I went to listen to the lady and she played obscure music that has no concessions made for other instruments. For example, Colbie’s “Bubbly” is basically two chords with no bass line. But I instantly wrote a bass line that bounces over the passing notes she hits on the acoustic. I kind of regard her as an older Taylor Swift. Mind you, I stand by my statement that you can tell what a person does for a living by asking what their father does for a living. Colbie’s father was one of the producers behind Fleetwood Mac albums.
I point this out not because I’m jaded or jealous, but because it is such a fact in America. Nobody seems to really make it on their own any more. That’s a sure sign the empire is in decline. Colbie was rejected twice for American Idol, but her father had the money to let his surplus “investment” in her wait for the big day, you might say. She hit number five on the charts in 2007 (she was already 23 so something had to give), made $2.1 million in royalties and has done little since but release mediocre albums of mostly other people’s songs. Sweet, as far as life goes, and sure as hell beats going to college and on to deliver pizza.
Last Laugh
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
