One year ago today: December 29, 2016, all the excuses.
Five years ago today: December 29, 2012, 7,000 years older.
Nine years ago today: December 29, 2008, “112 letters”.
Random years ago today: December 29, 2007, Lark, from the 90s.
The photo? It has nothing to do with this post. I just don’t have anything better for you. It is from an advertisement in, what was it, the DuPont Report? Some toity magazine for those with good table manners and too proud to advertise their second-hand Lear jets on Craigslist. As the picture shows, magnificent beards are in and their dealings with the opposite sex remain heavily dependent on hired help.
Four people called. I told you about that new code enforcement prick. I called it right, he’s out there making enemies all over town. He’s telling the same lie each time, that he just happened to be passing by. He got one party for a loose dog, another got a citation for having tires stacked beside his house, another for too many cars parked, and Agt. R got a warning he has to fix a broken window that can only be seen from abandoned property next door. No, I won’t lead the rebellion, but I’ll keep track of the complaints and look into the matter.
One disturbing aspect is he tells Agt. R they received a complaint from “a concerned neighbor”. I’ll advise everyone to tell the guy unless the complaint is in writing, tell him they can’t talk about it. You watch, he’ll refuse to name names. It may not be the optimum tactic, but it will let him know somebody is on to his tricks. At the library, I could not find a copy of the city bylaws. Last year, however, they abandoned the volunteer code enforcement team and hired a “magistrate’. That’s a mighty lofty title for the douche I ran into.
What I’m trying to find out is how many names must be on a petition that the council can’t ignore it. Otherwise, sit back and watch the bastard dig his own grave. But of course, it I see him get what’s coming to him, I’ll sneak in a swift kick anywhere I can. It’s my natural aversion to any situation that relies too much on watching what other people are doing. My feeling on code enforcements is they are for serious breaches, safety matters, and building trades. They were never intended to police people working on their own places, and even then, subject only to the code in force back when the place was built. There should be clearly published rules for most items, like frontage clearance, that can be referred to without the bother of submitting an architectural plan to the city.
Loch Ness.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
A quick reminder, readers, that although I do not publish comments, I read them and they are an excellent way to get a message to me. In fact, today, one reader commented on my December 23 listing concerning how I could not find my 2018 Writer’s Digest. He sent a link to an on-line publishing site with a note that he makes an extra $8,000 per year from it. That got my attention. I’m still checking into it, but the site has no warning flags or complaints. It seems to be a legit service that makes its money from non-intrusive advertising. If I get my hands on an extra 8 G’s a year, you’ll know.
Next on the agenda, I updated all the paperwork and I see there is a teleconference on January 8th. That will be for that mortgage hearing I helped out with. It says I’m requested to attend. That reminds me the mortgage company has been awfully slow in replying to the paperwork of November. What I’m pushing for is that the plaintiff be relieved from having to pay any interest or fees, including foreclosure fees, since the time they began ‘reviewing’ his application last February. You know, it could be they are already worried about that. They are taking far too long.
I downloaded some Houston newspapers to check out the economy, see photo. There’s trouble, but not anything like the bust and oil price drop last decade. Texas always overspends and over commits when [oil] prices are high and gets slapped when they eventually fall. My interest was the developments in fracking and apparently the new drilling techniques can follow the oil and gas sideways like it was a seam of gold. You’ll never get me near an oil rig again. I’ve been reading about robots doing the job. That would make sense. The prices go up and down, but wages, one they go up, stay up until the career disappears. I never did care for that whole oil roughneck bunch in the first place. Yes, I know about the money, but it doesn’t seem to have done many of them any good.
Never trust Texas statistics, either. The state has been trying to diversify away from oil for so long, when they claim that revenues from petroleum taxes are less than 40% or less than 30%, it is because [oil] prices have fallen that much—they take a percentage. I never could have made it in Texas with my skill set. But there are jobs there to be had for anyone who doesn’t mind the risk of losing it in an instant. My situation is that it would cost me so much to move back and settle in that I would never break even in the remainder of my life. The again, I could win the powerball tomorrow. If I buy a ticket that is. What is it, $340 million? Or as they say in Texas, “three units and change”.
ADDENDUM
Some early 2017 budget items. This year I spent $1,206 on gasoline, $833 of it since I bought the car. My largest expense is entertainment, at $3,215. It cost $604 to operate my home office, where this blog is produced, think phone, printer cartridges, office supply. Groceries weigh in at $1,627 and I spent $818 eating in restaurants. Restaurant coffee came to $364 or almost bang on the allocated average of $1 per day. Operating the household, which includes everything from laundry to propane was a trifling $659. Surprisingly, the cost of materials put into the renovation was just $3,244. Most of the effort was my own labor. The ROI on this cabin must be close to ten times the materials. At those numbers, who gives a shit about some piddley-ass inspector?
The plan is to hold that important second rehearsal tomorrow (Saturday) at 2:00PM. That’s the one that tells if she’s been doing the homework and if she’s catching on. It can’t become like me giving lessons to somebody reluctant to learn anything new. As already described, she has less damage that needs undoing than any guitar player I’ve met in 25 years. I’ll be able to tell how much she’s put in to the hour. Because I’m not any faster learning new things than the next person and know exactly how long it takes. I just have no fear of it.
Sure, I’ll tell you what I’m watching for, having had two days to pore over the events. She knows her chords but is weak on patterns. That is remedied by maybe forty hours of good old practice. It’s possible when she taught music, it was on some other instrument than guitar. It’s all good, but if you show me a room full of musicians who don’t know any theory at all, my money says it is a room full of guitar players. They talk about being open-minded and receptive to new music, but so far it has been nothing but talk. I even tried paying them to try it my way and couldn’t find anybody. Note that years later, not one of those who didn’t try is in a successful band. Nary a one.
Last Laugh
Return Home
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
