One year ago today: July 11, 2017, that thin veneer of deniability.
Five years ago today: July 11, 2013, all of them.
Nine years ago today: July 11, 2009, no car, huh?
Random years ago today: July 11, 2004, Marco Island.
Move to central Florida, they said. It’s a relaxing place to retire. I can say it beats the condo canyons and coffins in the sky. Then why isn’t everybody doing it? Because they don’t know any better, that’s why. They’d rather be broke in a city where they think there are more things to do, if they ever get around to it. All I can say is if they ever do anything more thrilling than golf or bingo, I’m not seen it. There is an American concept that the underlying purpose of any savings or investing is toward retirement. That looming retirement that spells doom if you don’t prepare enough.
Since the six grade, every year they told us to invest because one could not and should not rely on social security. But then, they never taught you how to invest nor that investing would not work if everybody did it. The legal system was changed so the only secure investments were easily taxed items like savings bonds and real estate. Things that basically tied up your money for a lifetime while living expenses soared into orbit. I don’t know of anyone who has any money today that they invested since they turned 18. I had lots of savings bonds in my twenties and thirties. I was the only one and I lost money on all of them after inflation and taxes.
Yet the strange part is that if all that Social Security money had been invested by competent private parties, every retiree would be a millionaire. Instead, the cash was frittered away in current programs, presuming the taxpayer, when he turned 65, would be funding out of then-current taxes. That might have worked if they had not then sent all the good jobs overseas. Now we live in a world of bailouts and rebates and political sell-outs. Hey, don’t look at me, I learned by the time I was 25 that you could not warn people against things if everybody else is doing them. But you can prepare and we’ve seen the results. They re-enter the workforce as mall cops where I have not really worked since May, 1996. Now nobody take that to mean I retired a millionaire. We’ve been through that, and there are many ways to retire.
The major factor in my retirement was simply staying out of debt. I have never owned a credit card or had a mortgage. I have worked since 1996, but only when I felt like it and only to get ahead. So, why this morning’s focus on retirement? Well, take a look at the picture. That’s the gal I went four-wheeling with last week. I told you, she owns a bar. And the three properties next door. Be danged if the entire side of the main road not too far away start getting slips in the mail concerning eminent domain. I know nothing about how that operates, but I know it has a bad rep. Yes, she’s a blonde babe. There she is, moving the stage to the wall nearest the bar. By herself. My kind of gal, sort of.
Just like others began getting spam mail the minute their were certain documents filed at the courthouse, the same seems to apply to eminent domain. For those unfamiliar with the term, that is where the government needs your property for the public good and forces you to sell it. Sounds bad, right? Not really, since the will pay you likely far more than you would ever get from a private sale. Where the evil comes in is how they sometimes use it to force old-timers out of ancestral property. This happened a mile north of the trailer court in the tales. The city wanted the corner of downtown for a parking lot and the property owner didn’t want to sell. Study after commissioned study by the city showed the parking garage was absolutely necessary.
So they winkled the old guy out of his strip mall, built the parking garage, and you’ve heard me over the years mention how it has since sat there vacant. The other likely place you may have heard of eminent domain is from Trump, in connection with the pipeline. While some farmers gladly sold their land, others held out but never stood a chance. The Federal government has, contrary to the Constitution, become just too powerful.
So this is a situation to watch. There are two points of view. One is that this could be parlayed into a small fortune for her. The other is that everyone along that road to Orlando was told prior to 2012, when the property last changed hands during the recession, that it was subject to eminent domain. Does that mean they were warned they stood to loose it at some value fixed in the past? Time to contact Trent and see if he knows anybody.
So there I was toting my bass along the path when this guy pulls up in a pickup and says he as a case that exactly fits my instrument. Donated to the cause, alright. Rehearsal was later in the day, see below. I was over at Twood’s for two hours . Again, he’s been doing the homework. The variety in his strumming remains weak.
Moher, Ireland.
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The event of the day is music. Twood has been practicing, but there is a ponderous amount of material. That means if you go through the list, by the time you get back to a given tune, you’ve forgotten what you did. So, today we concentrated on the eight easiest tunes. I showed him how to knock these out of the way quickly, so you never have to go practice them again. (Actually, you do, but it is on stage and getting paid.) He remains avid on the concept because it produces results and it is easy to tell I’ve a ready solution to every problem along the way. The two immediate challenges are that he still has troubles capturing the feel of each piece of music, and he has a guitar-lesson inability to up-pick.
Meanwhile, here is a picture of piles of bricks. What? It has no relation to music, but years ago, in early accounting school, I stated that in my lifetime, bricks would cost a dollar each. Wrong, they said. The capitalist system is based on efficiency and competition. As time goes by, bricks will become cheaper. Bricks were one cent apiece back then, and oddly, used bricks cost more. I walked past these today, noticing the price. Hmmm, 92¢ each. Getting’ there. (For those who thought of it, I’m quite aware that in terms of purchasing power, bricks may well be cheaper today. That was not part of my original statement.)
As we finished up practice, this guy rolls past in a pickup truck. He sees my short-scale bass and hollars over that he has a case that fits it. And he does, which he donated to the cause. I’ve got it in the car, no time to try it yet, but please let it fit. It is nicer than what I’ve been using. Practice was short today, a couple of hours. I had shopping to do and I found some plumbing pieces, no thanks to the idiot working the department over at Lowe’s. He didn’t have a clue, but he would not quit making the wrong suggestions. There is a piece on the old plumbing that I wanted to know what it was and why it was there. Some kind of cleanout plug, but it was in a position where that was not needed.
ADDENDUM
I had to siphon another $800+ dollars into the hot dog venture, but much of that total was complained about last week. I just got around to actually paying it today. This concept of the care-free but hard-working entrepreneur is bogus. The system actively works against you, and I no longer have any illusions about that. Whatsoever. It is fun, mind you, to see the process. The system is designed to extract as much information as possible about you, and my situation is to reveal only what is absolutely legally required, and even then, you may find prepared answers.
Yes, Tallahassee, I’ve had the same address for 15 years, why even my medical insurance goes there. For example, I don’t tell them I don’t have a phone, I only tell them I do not have a phone they can call me on. You get the idea. They are careful not to insist, because they take for granted all the data they want is available elsewhere. One can only imagine their fury when they discover it isn’t. I’m seeking to register all my trailers and wagons to the robot club, which adds another layer of pseudo-anonymity.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to run a secret business, which is probably impossible. But I don’t believe others should be able to delve into anybody’s background, including yours and mine, in an anonymous way. My aim is not to act anonymously, but to ensure the people working the other side aren’t either. And that is exactly what you are enabling shadowy people to do when you don’t protect your identity. What constitutes shadowy? Anybody who investigates you without a warrant, whether or not a warrant is required.
For clarity, what I seek to do is set matters up in a fashion that nobody can get anything by accident or by claiming they stumbled across the goods. That’s the old “routine patrol” scam. They have to undertake a deliberate effort to find out the information. And I cannot tell you how many times this caused them to blow their cover. So if you think I’ll ever willingly change this policy, think again.
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