One year ago today: January 22, 2018, please stay warm.
Five years ago today: January 22, 2014, what blimp?
Nine years ago today: January 22, 2010, remind me to censor this post.
Random years ago today: January 22, 2015, goat eradication.
The millennials are back at what they do best. Ruin things for other people for profit. And here is another example of the biased bag. Normally ready for this scam, I cut the back. But as I tore along the cut, it split down the side than across. The millennials have designed the material so it has a bias to tear in that direction. Yes, this spilled around a third of the contents. They must be giggling and rubbing their hands together. Congratulations, guys, you got me for some veggie straws.
By mid-morning I was at the laundromat downtown with all the old ladies. I used the cycle time to get my chasing around done. Then I stopped at the Mongolia for spud salad, the only time I eat mayo any more. And chai, the only place I much drink tea that way. I recall the first time I ever drank that concoction. I had gone to visit a gal in Vancouver, which is in western Canada. She lived in a swank area called Kerrisdale. She was late, so I went to a corner store, which I thought was a deli. Naw, it was a hippie coffee house without the coffee. Kind of what I’ll call a quiche joint. They had drinks like carob and I tried the chai. Nice, but it will never replace coffee, even if it could become as universally available. I sat at the counter, with more old ladies watching me do the crossword puzzle.
I will never understand what old ladies find attractive about old men, but it is amusing to see how long these women will stay lonely rather than get over their preposterous age hang-ups. I did some cleaning up around the house with a weird movie about this translator at the UN that overhears a plot and gets chased around by the FBI over it. The only plausible part of the movie is that Africa has always been the most screwed up continent in all of history. They blame everything on European colonization, but all that did was let the tribes kill each other faster. And I’m 2/3rd finished the “Eagle Against The Sun”, which is an excellent expose on the American military. Not one of the problems the book describes from WWII has since been solved. If there is any real teamwork, it is at the squad level or lower.
Unseen Woodstock, 1969.
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Siesta time. Then, I put in some real time on the yard, including burning the debris in the back pit. I need that burning barrel, but preceding that, there is a gap where my yard can be seen directly from the second business street in the area. I have churches on three sides, and one of them has a huge parking lot directly across from my neighbor. Thus, although I am two blocks from the main road, the segment of my yard that should be most private is visible by anyone who glances across that lot and down the neighbor’s driveway. Thus, it will cost me another $100 to block that view.
The countertops are flush, they don’t overhang, so I can’t trim the furniture either. The prices are right, but that extra couple inches and the flush design rules out converting them to my cabinets. It would involve moving a wall that took weeks to build and wire. There should be a picture of the wall frame nearby, one that you have not seen. It is 2x6” and solid. Not only is it a bearing wall, it is a conduit for 30% of the electrical and 58% of the plumbing in this house. Modifying it now is not an option.
Still no contact from the plumber, so he likely forgot from partying that night. I’ll find him again, since he hangs out at the Fubar. More progress has been made on this house in the previous nine weeks than in the previous nine months. The work is secondary to the fact that I was able to operate at that level on a consistent daily basis. I do consider myself totally recovered from 2003 and at this rate in another year I may consider a more aggressive exercise program. Right now, I work a bit and ride my bicycle on warm days.
Here’s an item, and your trivia. Remind me to look up exactly what real wasabi sauce is. Chances are you and I have never had any. Why? Because real wasabi is apparently very difficult to produce or grow or something. I assumed it was a root, so now we will find out. What they’ve been feeding us is actually green-dyed horseradish. Long ago I noted the similarity in flavor and that’s probably why I got the idea it was another root. I usually have horseradish on hand to make cocktail sauce. Let me see if I can whip me up some wasabi. This place could use a little more class. Why settle for horseradish when a little food dye gets you wasabi?
While at the Mongolia, I got talking to Sandi. She has her finger on the pulse of Polk. Not only are there no taxis or hotels in the area, there are also no rental properties. During the chat, she mentioned a place like mine would rent for $650 per month. To me, that is a disappointment, since the few locally available apartments go for $900. Anyway, I ran the spreadsheet to what-if the $650. The one assumption is that $150 would be insurance and tax costs, which I think is reasonable. The net of $500, where does that put me?
It puts me in another state during the brutal Florida summers. With that much extra income, I could rent a place in a cooler climate. Or travel, since I know to the third decimal point exactly what it costs me to stay on the road. You know, become a boondocker. I would actually be operating at a surplus, noting my income would be slightly higher than JZ’s “allowance”. The reality is I am more likely to travel anyway, just leaving this place vacant. And the fancy guitar player who wants the startup band left a note saying wait a few months and contact him again. That’s how I know he is serious.
ADDENDUM
Here’s part of my food inventory. I did some counting today. This is not a stash for the day after, but enough for one person for two weeks. Kind of a safety net that works on the premise that if things are not restored in two weeks, there will be more to worry about than calories. The Coffee Mate™ is a reflection of my college days, when I sometimes lived on coffee alone for several days at a stretch. These products presume the availability of other things, like the coffee and water, etc. The food is designed for minimal survival, not feasting till the convoys arrive. If there is a real disaster, you also do want to be standing in some FEMA lineup. Mark my words, FEMA will be one of the first major abusers of facial recognition software.
How was your day?
