One year ago today: March 15, 2020, frump city.
Five years ago today: March 15, 2016, I remained home.
Nine years ago today: March 15, 2012, the $8 refill.
Random years ago today: March 14, 2003, pic when I was 22.
The picture is JeePee’s music box. It quit so I put it in a baggie sprayed with WD40 and let it sit a few months. Finally, it fired up. I tried to change the music wheel, but these gizmos are designed to make that difficult. In the process, I caused the pins to tick slightly against the drum. Imagine my surprise to see JeePee loves that sound. The box is here, so I sent ahead a message to expect it. I suspect JeePee likes to wait around a lot, but I like to let him know at the speed of light.
[Author’s note: make that 7:00AM, I forgot to set my clock ahead. Some call it daylight savings time, but the popular label this year is “knocking an hour of Biden’s term”.]
The meetings of last week produced no practical results. There is a historical reason for this, that the things which retain value during high inflation are too high-priced for the average person who wants to do it. Except for gold and silver, which we don’t need at this time, most everything else is out of reach. Most folks cannot just rush out and buy another house. One path not considered was stockpiling. Anything like that requires constant protection and the survivalist recommendation for food is iffy.
A lot of stored food would mean although you would not have to buy at inflated prices, the food has a shelf-life and would eventually run out without producing any revenue. Ah, some say, you could sell the food—which would lead hungry people right to your doorstep. I don’t have any offerings, I’m just recording the results of the week. Myself, I tend toward having something like music, that people will pay for, has zero inventory, and once used has to be purchased again. And I’m more for something right now that just holds it value. This $1.9 trillion is a boondoggle, that’s like a million dollars for each American family just given away to special interest groups.
Let’s find the cheapest inhabitable piece of property in the vicinity with a real house on it. Here we go, a skid shack in Lake Wales. Listed as a handyman special, it has two bedrooms, a tree in the yard, and comes complete with a “Beware of Dog” sign. Listed for $37.9, use it to store shit. Walking distance to the orange juice factory, the locally famous Bok Tower, and Lake Effie. Hey, there is actually a lake in the center of town and it was rented out for $650. I say was because there are some code compliance issues. The reason it catches my eye is that it has a similar asking price to this place, which I got for half price.
Let me think of something positive about this shack. You cannot get a mortgage on such property and I’ll bet it is easy to rent that near to the biggest factory in town, the orange juice place on the north end. We laugh at it now, but a year from now that $650 could be the difference between groceries and no groceries. After all, it is American real estate.
Some trivia. Bok Towers sits atop a rare high spot in the Florida panhandle, soaring 290 feet above sea level. Bok is the guy who started the Ladies Home Journal in 1880 or something. Upon the onset of income taxes in 1917, these places quickly became bird sanctuaries and state parks. Lake Wales has a lot of stuff I’d like to see but it is located in that “dead zone” just a little to far for me to drive for the heck of it and always on the way to somewhere else. Lake Wales was supposed to have become part of a huge central metropolis, they say, stretching all the way to Haines City. Lake Wales has a skyscraper, ten stories. I should go have coffee there.
Utah Shakespeare Festival.
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Here’s the thing. JZ hates working in attics so bad he can’t let others do it without crabbing. I was up there until it got sauna-like around mid-morning. I sealed what I think is where the critters got in a week ago, but also notice the repair I made to the eaves has been disturbed from the inside. I was up there troubleshooting the attic fan. It looks in brand new condition and checks out except it will not turn on. The thermostat? I turned it to the lowest setting and no dice. All the connections are tight and the wiring is all brand new.
The attic is sealed and insulated, it is not a dusty environment. With summer looming I’m going to double-check everything before replacing it. Those who have direct deposit are already getting their stimulus checks which could mean a whole new fan. I checked the listings for average rents in Lake Wales, it’s a waste of time. Some sites say 852 aparments for rent and there are not that many buildings in the entire city.
It also gives me an excuse to take the evening off to prefab more duplex receptacles. The work station I’m using has ten (outlets) and I still had to use octopi and power strips. And it’s been a year since I was up there and finally don’t have to wonder where I left my tack hammer any more. I was up and down that ladder around 100 times today. Shown here, that is not insulation, but soundproofing. Yes those are lots of outlet boxes. To work on that wall, most everything has to be moved to the center of the room. Which is even more work.
ADDENDUM
From the people contacting me, I see it is time to repeat a few details about buying and selling silver. This is not about the investment, the market, or in too many cases, whether or not you agree with me. That last one might seem odd, but some folks take that position. I’m talking about the physical act of buying and selling silver. First lesson, buy your silver from a shop that promises to buy it back from you for cash. This is supremely important.
You do not want to be paid by check, which has other implications. One of which is that if you sell more than $10,000 at once or in a series of related transactions that total that, you get into some paperwork that has never been all that popular. It is better to know ten small shops than one big one. Silver dealers may want your ID, see warning below. It is best to make friends with some coin dealers and collectors than to “open an account”.
Next, do not buy coins, do not buy jewelry, do not buy coins, do not buy silverware, and do not buy from a pawn shop. That changes once you are an experienced buyer, but if you were you don’t need this advice. Back before the 1930s, silverware was considered a way to invest and store value but today keep away from it. There is not even an established nationwide market to sell that stuff, which leads you back to a pawn shop where you will never get what it is worth.
Be aware of the bar charge per ounce, both buying an selling. Many places have been charging $5, meaning the price of the silver has to appreciate at least $10 before you break even—and beware of states that charge a sales tax. Foresee the situation where you have more silver to sell than a dealer wants, meaning you may be dealing with desperate latecomers, which is why you do not want silver coins, which tend to have a nominal value stamped on them—I’ll let you figure that situation out.
You have another situation with artistic value. Like most speculators, unless you got something world famous, I’m not interested in silver plate, statues, or jewelry and will not pay you a cent extra for it. Just the silver content, which neither of us is equipped to determine. Stick to buying single silver bars and one ounce is the convenient size. The reason you don’t want big bars is the same as the problem with gold. You will have to sell it rather than “spend” it because nobody has enough change when all you want is a loaf of bread.
And do not buy silver certificates. That is so dumb, but I guess some people like the idea of being left standing holding a pile of paper.
Why stay anonymous? It has nothing to do with tax evasion, it has to do with personal safety. Remember the old warning about crisis preparation, where you buy garden seeds but your neighbor buys a gun. Don’t buy or sell at the shop nearest to where you live, that is also a dead giveaway, the important word being dead. You are expecting some kind of upset, so act like it and keep your affairs as private as possible.
There is something I’ve never seen in America but don’t rule it out. In tough times I’ve been approached by strangers selling silver in the street. Whereas this is not illegal, it is probably dangerous, yet it makes sense. Imagine the situation where silver was $1,000 per ounce and the other guy had already sold his limit, but has more he wants to dump. Do not pay more than half price, bring backup, and wear dark sunglasses.
