April 1, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 1, 2019, downtown in Nashville.
Five years ago today: April 1, 2015, the original red scooter.
Nine years ago today: April 1, 2011, an April Fools idea.
Random years ago today: April 1, 2007, an extinct American concept.

           Happy Millennial Day. What? It’s called what? I always called it Millennial Day because of all the fools cropping up. I figured since we have a Mental Health Day (Oct. 10) and Coastal Cleanup Day (Sep. 19) I didn’t want anybody with an equivalent level of relevance to feel left out. Anyway, too late, I already wrote it. There were a lot of things to thank Millennials for today, and I’ll tell you about some of them, but first, here’s what a security breach looks like.

           I regularly hoe the strip of dirt between my driveway and the curb. That’s how I can tell if a mystery vehicle has left tire marks pulling into my yard. Here they are. They don’t match any of the vehicles on this street or that have any business around here. Actually, this method is just a backup in case the power is out. These days, be on the lookout when the power goes out. The security camera revealed this to be the neighbor’s lawn tactor.

           Back to millennials. Start by learning in America you cannot buy a lousy $1,000 Money Order without showing ID, and letting them record your ID. Yes, Ken, showing it to them and having them record it are two different things. Sad, because $1,000 isn’t that much money any more. Federal control has now seeped down to that level and the seller cannot legally reveal that limit to you. Why are the Millennials responsible? Because they’ve been indoctrinated by the school system to believe steady government encroachment into privacy is normal, nor will they ever protest anything on the scale of their scapegoats, the Boomers. Protesting, you see, might hurt the government’s feelings.
           Be aware, once you show ID, your name goes into a national database and you are tracked nationwide for life to make sure you don’t go over an unspecified upper limit or exceed $1,000 in a series of related transactions. The clerk cannot sell you multiple smaller items once you’ve balked at showing ID. It is best to never give your name to such people, I never have. Hint, you can still go buy $500 Money Orders at 7/11 without having the government non-elect becoming an unwelcome party to the event. Wear sunglasses, 7/11 records everybody who walks in.

           I’m going ahead with Forex, I cannot reveal the weekly income or the equity needed to produce it, but I can tell you the weekly percentage. The algorithm was set at 3%, the return was 2.9436%. Pretty close and talk about easy. A lot of questions remain, such as why, on the daily statement, my account balance and equity are two different numbers. Since it is compulsory to use an on-line “wallet”, is there a separate fee for that? And a ton of related questions before I feel comfortable with the system. I know a number of people who would get into this if I say it is okay, but I’m not okay with recruiting them.
           Even more people would like in as silent partners if I manage their account for them. I would have to think about that one. I told how the software shuts down when it reaches the 3%. You have to pay another $150 for a key to disable that, put another way, the system limits you to your specified rate unless you cough up some extra dough. Clever. Sneaky, too. Put a governor on the system and charge to remove it. Millennial-think, “but, but, the download itself IS free, sir.”
           There is something off kilter about the scheme, I’m investing partly to find out what it is. The rate of return, by compounding, works out to 152% annually, which cannot be possible. That exceeds housing prices out west. I’d be happy with a tenth of that. See addendum below. And here is a portrait of the pecan tree, already being trained to grow only upward branches. How’s that for a sight in the morning sun?

Picture of the day.
Making yacht decks.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           This photo shows a relic, found in the pile behind Agt. R’s. It is a porcelain pullchain light socket. The original mechanism is rusted and I believe they quit making this style long ago. They still sell the chain mechanism and I’ve seen these on the shelves, but this one is authentically 40 years or more. It’s for my new bathroom to match the “outhouse” décor. Nice, huh?

           As a demo of my sincerity, I’m digging out my last two XP computers for this business. These units are modified to be a difficult trace and the software gets reinstalled on a regular and random basis. It is my opinion that Windows 7, Vista, and beyond were not released as improvements, but as the first software with formally embedding tracking code. It does the same job as XP, but requires three times the overhead. Go figure. These are my prize units, in pristine condition and have been waiting for a situation where security is paramount. Yes, XP can be hacked, but the drives are encrypted and a few other things that make it difficult to snoop around.
           There are meta-reasons XP works well. One is that XP has no built-in spyware, it has to be hacked into and another is that government employees are inherently lazy. XP, when configured properly, makes it easier for them to hack into somebody else’s computer. Thirdly, there is a Generation XYZ attitude that anybody still using XP is an old fogy not worth bothering with. Do nothing to dispel that. These are HP units but they still work like new. I think one day such computers may be worth a fortune, but not in my lifetime. I’ll see about getting you pics once they fire up. They have fully functional DVD players, but only burn CDs. And the hard drives are 80 gigs, plenty for business use. These have been in storage 15 years waiting for this opportunity.

           I got lost by GPS again. My biggest annoyance is how, when you look for something like a gas station or ATM, it displays the distance to the nearest intersection, not the destination, duh. For that, you must select “Go” and start a new route, rarely what you want just to buy gas. Too often you make the turn to find the place is another 15 or 20 miles distant. It can be a hassle getting turned around and back on the freeway. It takes true world-class stupidity to come up with things like that. I went to Auburndale to interview a guitarist. He’s okay, but he’s not going to get anywhere in Polk County. This area is a musician’s Black Hole and he’s finding that out the hard way. The available people are truly bad and most of them couple that with an abrasive personality, unreasonable demands, and inability to learn.
           Another barrier is he is twenty-five years my junior, not normally a problem, but he still wants to play music he likes over what the audience wants. I should introduce him to the Hippie. His ad does not rule out country, but in person he resists even playing one or two. Yet he is okay with some new country tunes I’ve never heard of. Listening to them doesn’t change that. I have always found “whisper singing” offensive, much more since this has become a contemporary standard.
           Here’s my opening to make a point. I have no rule against playing where I hang out, just an aversion. The going rate for Karaoke is $150, and hell yes I’d play for that. I’ve explained how I have to memorize the start notes, which is tricky enough in my den, much less on stage. My progress is measurable, my major impediment is my own too-high standards. Tomorrow the government puts in a midnight to 6:00 AM curfew. In my day, martial law in peacetime was cause for revolt. Not now with the sheeple conditioned to do as they are told.

ADDENDUM
           I stopped over at Agt. R’s. Wisely, I took along a 12-pack of Bud [cans]. Once again, I have people who are very interested in investing and this 3% return has their attention. I’m reminded of the situation with Templeton, who was fired (they say) for proposing to his boss that a thousand people with a thousand each was a million, and if their funds were “mutual”, he could manage it to prosperity. (Remind me to quit using sentences like that in this blog.) This is not the same [Templeton] fund that exists today, rather a run-of-the-mill farce since Templeton left.

           What I’m leading to is I have a group ready to invest,but. But what? Foremost, I will have no truck with recruiting anybody. My people know this and the primary condition to invest is that I manage the portfolio. Retired or not, this is clean easy work for me, and cause to contemplate, and I mean a lot. It’s way to early to tell anyone this Forex thing works, but they are banging at the gates since I reported the dummy account just produce 2.934% in a single week.

           Myself, I wonder if the dummy account was tweaked to show 3%? I’ll know soon. There is a huge pent-up demand for people who would invest, but for the pyramid-recruiting aspect. One thing I’ve got going is what happens when I die. A lot of managers don’t have a proper plan. Be patient, because I still don’t know what the catch is, but at this stage it will be a surprise. My suspicions are the display itself, there is no way at present to verify if it is accurate. Second, there is something amiss with the compulsory “wallet” system, though if it was dishonest, that would get around quickly. Just something.
           The picture? That’s just my fence sagging in the back yard. Of course, it’s the spot right behind the wood pile and all the kudzu. It needs a new post. That unused hard-to-reach corner of my lot needed some attention anyway.

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