Four years ago today: February 29, 2012, Account 1020, Texas bus fare.
Eight years ago today: February 29, 2008, on JZ & real estate.
Twelve years ago today: February 29, 2004 there was no post.
Sixteen years ago today: February 29, 2000 there was no post.
MORNING
Today, mostly editorial. It’s now a confirmed issue, somebody is buying up all the worthwhile property in central Florida. Of the 34 houses listed in Bartow last Friday, and this is “nothing Bartow”, all but four tear-downs in the east side have been sold. Somebody is on to something and it is just my luck they are doing it now. Pardon me, it was 37 houses.
First issue is the motorcycle. My mechanic gave me the lecture about the throttle cable. He’s aware of my dismay at the $800 flat tire of 2015 and now this cable on a Super Bowl weekend when I was all ready to meet some rich gals in Coral Gables. He says not only is the batbike in excellent shape, he confirms the motor is in primo condition. He knows I’ve talked of replacing the Goldwing with a newer bike with lower mileage, but he says that is not an issue.
Why? Because he reports that every Honda from that era of motorcycle that he’s seen has had the speedometers turned back. Unlike a car, it requires an expert to tell, plus he says a lot of times, the user merely disconnects the speedometer cable for 50,000 miles. Getting to money, he further adds if it was his batbike, he would keep it, that in the long run it will require only a third of the money required to upgrade to a newer Goldwing.
What’s more, he pointed out all the things that have gone wrong except the alternator were small electrical jobs, brake pads, really minor repairs nowadays. I have to think about this, because if the electrical is the only nagging problem, it is not that bad. The batbike can always be push-started. My gut reaction is to trust the mechanic who has done 100% of the work on this machine.
Pot-bellied pigs.
NOON
Here is a picture of the clothespins being made, I promised the picture and here she be. These are missing the springs, but I was curious to learn this basic model of clothespin as never been improved or superseded by any other design since the day of its invention. And I already forget when that was, so look it up yourself. I’m lazy today, drinking tea, and eating Russian cookies. The kind with nothing but ingredients. Real ingredients don’t need anti-caking agents.
Hence, I’m now looking into a trust. Why? Well, I’ve noticed that lawyers keep everything in trusts. Even the law office is often owned by a trust. I’m not sure of the implications yet, but it won’t take long. I’ve received checks from trusts that were in no way connected to the underlying transaction, so that means trusts can have bank accounts. That’s all I need to know for now. Remember, I’m as good with other people’s money as my own. If I live to be 65, I’m back in business.
I just received a notice from my bank about the circumstances under which they can close or seize your account. Well, American, you complacent bastards had it coming. The money is not really yours anymore, and everything, right down to transaction level is attached to your social security number and can be given to anybody who claims to be a credit bureau, whether or not you have any business or contact with such outfits. The bank state that they “need to share customer’s personal information to run their everyday business”. They didn’t used to, but it seems now they do.
The banking establishment needs a Donald Trump. I’ve often said somebody needs to open a “real bank”. One that keeps people’s real money in the vault (or a vault) and somehow gets around the regulation of letting the entire government know who has an account. There must be some regulation that makes such a business not a bank, and thus into a money storage place. Maybe not making loans? Charge the people a storage fee for the money, say? You’d have ten thousand customers in no time, so twenty bucks a month seems reasonable.
But this notice today was scary. You can’t close the account if they even “think” you have anything outstanding, or any legal action that is even “pending”, They can place a “hold” on your account for any reason, but continue to charge you bank fees. Yes folks, America needs a new banking system that caters to people who have cash legitimate cash. Because the Constitution does not grant the federal government the right to peek into people’s banking affairs. That is akin to searching your personal papers.
AFTERNOON
One thing about the Trump campaign, it has made me aware of television show hosts. I have never watched one of these shows in my life (ever), but I like the outtakes over Trump. Like this John Oliver, who has a real talent for twisting things around backward. I know, I can do it myself whenever something says I’m too harsh or judgmental Really? Anyway, these talk shows have one thing in common when they malign the Donald over his former stance on items like abortion and gun control.
Possibly John Oliver (who looks like a real-life Dilbert) expects people to hold the same opinions throughout their entire lives or he will dispense his wrath. (I know people who do [hold the same opinions forever], but they have cut off their access to new information. No names, Ken.)
It’s example time. What are my top three opinions that have changed from what I said years ago to what I say today.
A) Top of the list must be my incredibly naïve youthful concept that if I made the same money as those around me, but didn’t get into any vices, that I would eventually come out ahead of the pack. I could have married for money twice. By the time I learned better, the opportunities were gone.
B) I used to think war and fighting were patriotic and full of bravery and glory. I read every Sgt. Rock comic I could and supported the Viet Nam war. Today, I’m ashamed of what happened and a total isolationist pacifist.
C) No way would I play country music. I felt music’s purpose was to elicit emotions, so anyone who would intentionally listen to anything that made them depressed had mental problems. Today, I still shy away from the worst, but love country that pokes fun (Boy Named Sue) or teaches a lesson (Here’s A Quarter).
According to Mr. Oliver, these complete changes mean I was either lying then or lying now. That’s the only dichotomy possible in his manner of thinking. Worse, I know I would change my posture on 50 other things if I decided I wanted to get elected, because, like Trump, it’s just not something I had geared up for not that long ago. And the audience laughs when he says such things, that spunky guy. Shucks, there goes any hope of my running in 2020.
NIGHT
I likely never said, but part of my regular e-mail group dates back to the early 1990s, where somehow arose the habit of exchanging what we had for Sunday breakfast. Note by fritter picture from last day. I now make a confession. I cannot make poached eggs. I’ll eat them in a restaurant, but make them at home? It’s not something I can do right or learn to do. Do you think maybe as a child I was scared by a huge poached egg? If so, I’ve repressed the memory until I ever hear of any egg I knew getting rich enough to accuse of something.
They never seem to post any of the questions that a serious builder (software or hardware) would benefit from outside help. I may attend one meeting as an observer to see if they have any of the tools or if they are just another discussion group. I don’t want another Nova, where after years of perfect attendance, I was the only one who actually built anything.
Another reason I may attend is because they are not really in the Miami Labs building, but in an old garage in the same district. That’s a bit of a departure from Nova, where nobody liked to roll up their sleeves or do homework between meetings. You cannot build a robot if you only have to show up every 30 days. And often if you do show, it’s because you didn’t get the memo. Did you see the survey that indicates Facebook addicts actually get stoopider over time?
Oh, and the map to get to the address? The streets and background color are the same. You cannot read the map on a regular computer. How retarded is that? Even semi-illiterate people know it is difficult to even think of such ignorant situations.
ADDENDUM
Leap year is special budget review day around here. This time, everything is in order, so I got the day off. But certainly, you’ll want me to share the highlights of the review, since those who don’t believe in budgets must have the dickens of a time figuring out how I have and do more things than people with five times my income. No names mentioned.
Start with coffee. For years, my budget for coffee has rested at $120 per month. Now that the bakery is gone, the allocation remains, unspent. And there are few things a “credit-brained” person has more difficulty with than unspent money. Instead of me rushing out and using it as a down payment on some other on-going commitment, it kind of just sits there, accumulating. The bakery closed in December, was it, so I don’t have to count the money, there will be about $360 sitting there.
I spent a few dollars on the new coffeemaker, although I took that out of petty cash, and the two packs of coffee came out of groceries. So yeah, there will be $360 I should find a productive use for. Tell you what, you spend it, but here are the conditions. You must spend it all, any surplus will be considered money you never needed, no down payments but a cash purchase only, cannot be invested, cannot be used for any vice and should result in some net ongoing beneficial situation.
Sound tough? Not at all. I do need a laptop. I could send it to Marion, but I just gave her a handsome Xmas present. I’ve thought of Harbor Freight, however I already spent my allowance over there. You see, living a month ahead instead of behind puts you in command. If I don’t spend it at all, by next month there will be $480 there, which is my train ticket and hotel to the Smithsonian, right there. See how that works, Theresa? “Disposable income” all over the damn place, but only if you do things my way, which, in your case anyway, will never happen.
Don’t conclude it was always so, I had my bout of being poor. The first few years out of university were living hell. I had been jolted by university because it was only after I got there that I realized I was the poorest kid on campus. How do you suppose I felt hitchhiking to school and being picked up by some guy my own age in a late model sports car who was proud of the fact he’d never worked a day in his life? I realized early on that unless I hit some jackpot, the best I could ever do is make it to the starting line.
But I had plenty of experience around people who had no clue how to manage money. I watched them live paycheck to paycheck and consider that sort of life as “normal”. I was raised to believe that the only way to happiness was to go out and get a good job, though that was generally coming from people who had failed to follow their own advice. You know who you are.
I consider money management a necessity. That makes me the odd man out just about everywhere. I know this last month, I bought groceries 14 times, bought 17 newspapers, and had breakfast at a café 14 times. Never once did I have to pause to think or count if I had “enough” money. Yet I necessarily spent probably half as much as the next guy. That, grasshopper, is how it is done.
Last Laugh
Like a pro.
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