One year ago today: October 3, 2020, around the house.
Five years ago today: October 3, 2016, flooded in Wachaula.
Nine years ago today: October 3, 2012, around $26 per day.
Random years ago today: October 3, 2014, 100,000 volunteers, so far.
This was a day to remember. It ranges from strange mechanical problems to getting raked by a trusted friend. It was Pet Blessing Day and I was in Punta Gorda for most of it. The van somehow knows when I’m going there and acts ups. There is a pinhole leak in the upper radiator hose, but I made it to the event by noon. I don’t want to get shit for telling you things were not right, so I’ll give you the situation and you decide. That’s what you like about this blog. Here is a lady holding the “placard” I’ll describe in a moment. This view shows the east wing of San Antonio and the characteristic blue tops of the volunteer staff.
XI: Thou shalt not pass around thine own collection plate.
Half the intended group of 30 people showed up at the old King’s Arms. The place has trouble keeping a good chef on staff but overall it was a good feed. They still do not have fish & chips back on the menu. There were single women present, but far, far below the most basic minimum standards. A good time and lots of pet stories. The focus of attention was Alaine, the prettiest gal in the room, as usual. We did not get any time to visit there, so we planned a two-mile walk near the Veteran’s Memorial, no pictures.
Myself, I’m a firm believer in making attendance just a wee difficult because it weeds out the idly motivated. Alaine, your perpetual organizer, had arranged for outdoor seating and cleared the pets okay with management. Of course, half of them decided to take their pets home first, got there and realized there was a basketball game on TV and were no-shows. So only the people with at least a modicum of social skills and a personality showed up. This photo shows a pet horse, aged 24 years, that the owner almost rode to the blessing. I wish he had.
This year the event was the largest and best so far. I have some 180 pictures, of which you see a few today. What you see is the finished product, often treated with color-correction, cropped, and enhanced where needed. That is what passes for professionalism nowadays but it certainly is faster than what photographers did in the darkroom before.
The BattlĪ staircase.
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The return trip was vehicular drama. I had to top up the radiator twice, never a fun task. First stop was Arcadia, where I promptly ran into our old harmonizer. He was up in Michigan (don’t quote me) entering the annual barbershop quartet contest, which is such an event his team got nineteenth place. He’s grown weary of Arcadia having been there thirteen years. He’s got family out near Raleigh so my guess is he’s gone, though he would be closer to Nashville. This photo shows part of the crowd at the brunch. Don’t tell but I ate beef, a Philly cheesesteak and I really have lost my taste for the product. It tastes good still, but I’d rather have smoked turkey.
I returned home just after dark, an hour late due to the van. You can’t just add water, you must let it cool first. We got on the phone with Trent, who is beyond busy these days, but we had a discussion of inflation to get out of the way. It’s agreed, do something that will at least preserve value. Cash is about to take a 30% dive, but here is the catch. The items hit most are those on which you usually spend cash. Examples are food and gas. Alas, that is the part you cannot “preserve” and if there was a way around it, millions would have found it by now.
The part that needs to keep its worth is not your operating capital, but any money you have in what back in the day was called “savings”. These are normally (like my own) the result of a lifetime of sacrifice and hard work. They must be protected and anybody who’s ever had to cash in a bond just before maturity can verify that. The problem for the government is that such savings take money out of circulation, but that is an economic issue you can look up on your own. Very few Americans, other than their house, have any savings at all. But the few who had wise ancestors are fabulously wealthy.
And those with a paid-off house are often losers anyway. A house, or any personal use article is rarely a good investment. If, in the end they sell the house, they have no experience on where to invest except another house. Trent and I were discussing real estate, not housing. The strategy that’s worked best for me was having this cabin, which in turn saves me paying a third of my income in rent. But it also produces the “living like Harry” effect where if I spend my last penny, the maximum I’m broke for is 31 days. And I can do that eight times in a row if I have to.
We share a common interest in bands, so there was a discussion there. I fear the shaky lead player is losing heart. I realized after last rehearsal he for sure is going to hear that in his absence I played all the lead breaks on the bass. It’s not as bad as it sounds, since I could only fake the easier passages, but I quickly noted how none of the rest of the band had ever heard that done before. I guess I’ll find out which version gets back to the guy, who I will nickname Shilo. We cannot afford to lose another musician at this juncture.
One last note (ha-ha) on band practice concerns rehearsal. This band does not seem to be able to pick (ha-ha) out a single passage and go over it to get it right. Did I already tell you about this? The usual mistake is the last note on the old song, “Memphis”. It stands to reason you play just the ending until you get it, but they would play the whole song over. Good luck if one member could not it until the tenth try.
ADDENDUM
In a future scenario, says Gab, the land and assets of Bill Gates will be distributed amongst the victims of Windows OS. The food distribution crisis is no joke. And politically, there is no turning back. If you have not chose sides by now, you will be amongst the first caught in the crossfire. The Democrats made such a mess of the mask mandates, they have now switched tactics to the interstate and federal agency tiers where there is less opposition from mayors and governors. Since it is almost impossible for states to organize unless they share a common border, this is hunting season for the radical left. While nobody is yet advocating violence, I have no doubt most want to see Hillary hang.
One positive about the delay in the Green New Deal is exposure. The longer people have to learn the contents, the more it becomes obvious this is to steer public spending toward pet projects owned by the far left establishment. It also gives the edge to the Third World, who want American consumer goods, but not the responsibility. They want the cars, but not the parking lots. They want the disposable diapers and plastic forks, but then dump them in the oceans.
