July 6, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 6, 2015, court “auction”, my eye.
Five years ago today: July 6, 2011, they have no teeth.
Nine years ago today: July 6, 2007, housewives & lumber mills.
Random years ago today: July 6, 2008, the 40-lb “lab” dog.
(Also read an interesting paragraph on Germany
I wrote in 2008.)

MORNING
           This heat is pitiless, and it’s again staying in the upper 80s at night. This is the instance where my A/C and fans cannot keep pace. More scary is that the weather gets top billing, but like, what else are you gonna do in Florida when it gets like this? When you can get me to spring six bucks a jug for orange juice, it’s hot out there. What? Oh, that’s because orange juice is bulkier than water, so it stays ice cold longer and holds the cold until you can drink it. Even if that isn’t so, if you think it is, that’s fine too.

           These mid-summer doldrums are normal in Florida and are an incentive killer. Ah, but once I get the bedroom of the new place insulated, it technically becomes the work room until the rest of the place is renovated. As long as I have one cool area of the building to nip into, the job will get done. We did not leave with a truckload this morning as planned, but that just frees time to do the paperwork. Yes, the new building is gobbling up cash at an astonishing rate. I’ll bet there are some real horror stories out there on that account, so my troubles are probably minor.

           As for putting on the brakes, I operate on cash, therefore I cannot overspend. When I run out of money, that’s it, things grind to a standstill. I switch to modes that do not require cash to continue operation. That, I suspect, is actually going to happen in the later weeks of this month. Fine, because I have enough raw materials stacked inside the house already to work for at least that long without resupply. This photo shows the toothpicks leaning against a back wall. You can sort of see the squares under the green tarp.
           You’ll also see the peeling paint and this is not likely to be repaired. Why not? Because that is the wall that is slated to be torn open for the new soundproof interior double-doors that lead to the sunroom. And a large sunroom it will be. This photo is taken from roughly where the far wall will eventually stand. That sunroom will turn this one-bedroom into nearly a thousand square foot “family” home. Not bad for a winter cottage. Note, once configured, the current living room will become the new master bedroom.

Wiki picture of the day.
$7.6 million dollars.
NOON
           Economics isn’t an exact science, but food prices are. I’ve notice a spike in prices, so I was running the numbers such as they mean to me. I don’t trust or use the government indexes and neither should you. They lie and reset the meter to zero all too often. Besides, the really rapid increases seemed to parallel the housing crisis as a trailing indicator. Here is what happened 2008-2012.

           Although prices have not increased much since then, what’s happened is the corporations have completely taken over the food supply chain. Most you probably don’t even know a farmer by name. The reality is if DowJones or somebody says tomorrow that butter is ten bucks a pound, you’ll pay it or go without.

           So you’ll know, Malaysia, France, Germany, and Russia make up a good portion of my readership. I’d like a moment to explain something that probably doesn’t make sense overseas. Bill Clinton met up with a government official and claimed they were just talking old times. The problem is, that official is privy to private FBI information and Bill is the guy who got her the job. A few days after this chit-chat, the FBI and Hillary agreed between them to release information on Hillary’s bad conduct “within 27 months”. So if she is elected, that puts it half-way through her term and she can claim clemency or privilege or whatever.
           This is your prime example of political elitist patronage. Even the man conducting the investigation knows if Hillary can stall long enough, he could be working for her. Meanwhile, if you are not sure who to vote for, remember while Trump pays his own bills, Hillary flies around at taxpayer expense in the ultimate insider jet, Air Force One.
           I’d say that’s not a bad report for a guy like me who knows zilch about politics, but I know plenty about lying, thieving bureaucrats. I know ‘em when I see ‘em. And I usually spot a liar within two or three words, even if they are not lying at the time.

AFTERNOON
           I’m sealed indoors. I took to reading about the biggest battle in Africa since WWII. You never heard of it. An abandoned village called Cuito Cuanavale. The fighting lasted six months with 25,000 casualties (counted as the dead and 2/3 of the wounded and missing). While the history book shows the war was between Angola and South Africa, the reality is that it was the damn Cubans behind the whole mess. Castro needed a war to battle-train his lazy, complacent officer corps, so he began training unemployed African youths how to plant road mines. A real charmer, that Fidel.
           After a few busloads of schoolchildren got obliterated, the South Africans surround these hoodlums and their Cuban masters near this village and proceeded to pick them off by the thousands wherever they dared raise their heads. A 15:1 kill ratio. Here is where the accounts of the battle differ. The South Africans stopped. They did not overrun the enemy positions. The Cubans and communists hailed as a victory. But it is more likely the South Africans wanted to begin negotiating peace talks. (Plus, they did not want the 10,000 Cubans and rebels to find out there were only 2,900 South Africans surrounding them.)

           Problem. Castro decided not to fly in more soldiers, but instead air-lifted a crack squadron of Cuban politicians. That explains the last five months of the battle. You can see endless videos of these politicians laughing and partying while the machine-guns rattle in the distance. Instead of talking sense, they treat it like a big fiesta, asking unanswerable questions like “How many blacks are in South African jails due to apartheid?” And demanding the release of the terrorist, Nelson Mandela. It was clear the Cubans had no intention of focusing on the war being fought.
           Trust me, a Cuban politician does not give a hairy twit about who is in jail or what the issues are. He just wants the negotiations to continue endlessly, that's his job. So what if people are dying meanwhile? He’ll just keep widening the scope, never committing to specific points. This is the way that Cubans view being a politician. Endless discussions and never a settlement, as long as there are cigars, prostitutes, and cerveza every night. I’ve seen it. Note that Castro executed the general in charge and another general quickly defected to the USA. Then again, where else do defective generals go?
           The South Africans, after killing nearly 5,000 of the bastards, packed up and went home. Their orders had been simply to “stop the enemy”. They destroyed that gang and handed the Cubans their asses. Sure enough, the Cubans declared victory and Nelson Mandela, a killer, said it was the “turning point of the war”. Watch this video, I confirm it is accurate. I watched it because I like the bass riff.


+++ Ig Nobel Prize Winners +++
           Katherine K. Whitcombe: Physics, 2009. Katie was part of the team that demonstrated why pregnant women don’t topple over. Possibly because they quit drinking for nine months?
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NIGHT
           I stayed in and fed the birds. I use the birdfeeder to discourage the pigeons because I like little tweety birds. Finches, little budgies up to oh, say robin-size. There’s a dark red bird, my guess is a cardinal in my new yard, specifically a Northern Cardinal. Talk about shy, so even if I get a picture, it will be in the deep shade. This is a stock photo, but that’s the bird. I know because of the tuft of feathers over his little head. I don’t know from many birds, but that’s the right color and shape. If it’s a northern cardinal, what’s it doing in Florida?

           So I read up on this bird. It’s in Florida because it does not migrate. It also frequents birdfeeders and likes sunflower seeds. The mix I’ve been using has lots of sunflower seeds, I didn’t plan that. The literature says this is the bird most responsible for getting people to open a field guide. And I’ve heard their sharp whistle in the morning, I just didn’t know what it was.

           Watching some Ann Coulter videos, I wish she’d be a bit nastier to the people who talk while she’s answering their questions. Anne could also be a little snappier with her answers so they don’t get the chance, but that wouldn’t be Anne. As it stands, all her opponents who pretend to be interviewing her have graduated from the Geraldo-Rivera-Ramos School of Talking Over Top of People Who Make Valid Points. I love the classic way she slammed that dweeby immigration lawyer who kept mumbling over her answers.

ADDENDUM
           If there is one bureaucracy more convoluted than the phone company, it would be the health care industry. It’s one massive insurance scam of kick-backs, pay-offs, dirty policies, and behind-the-scenes manipulation of the legislative system. All under the guise of providing “health care”, which is the one thing they do NOT do. It has been fourteen months since they messed up my coverage, making it tricky for me to keep my long-standing appointments with my long-term doctors. More than once, the doc goes to file for payment to find, unbeknownst to me, my coverage has changed yet again.

           So, when bureaucracy finally gets it right, it is momentous enough to get mentioned in my precious blog. Just you be careful over my choice of words. It is equally generous to say they got it right when they plain ran out of mistakes to make. I also find the operation of the medical insurance system to be at least as arrogant as the phone place. When you call them, they expect that you have devoted time to learning how they operate and expect you to direct your own calls. Type of thing. This picture is my vision of the ultimate successful bureaucrat. Can't be fired because he used his own filing system.

           This is not to say I don’t think paperwork is spurious. I really mean it should not be done by the idle-minded. That is, those who handle the documents like they are merely pieces of paper. I’ll tell you what, let’s give you the test as to whether or not you should ever be a paper-shuffler. Think of your last fifty ATM transactions. Now, notice mine, all arranged by date and filed in reverse order as if the slips themselves were the actual money. Compare to your slips.
           Because I recognize that the slips are, indeed, a form of money, and I treat them as such. I consider ATM and all receipts to be “one-way” expenditure markers, and I check my balance after each transaction. How does that measure up to your system?


Last Laugh


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