December 2, 2021

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 2, 2020, both tires.
Five years ago today: December 2, 2016, adjusting to new budget.
Nine years ago today: December 2, 2012, the weight of books alone.
Random years ago today: December 2, 2002, too bad, S. Africa.

           The morning had us out in Franklin, a perfect outing on a winter day. The doggies and I fell asleep at the park bench, leaving the Reb stranded for 35 minutes. We decided to head over to the new Trader Joe’s and that became quite the shopping trip. There’s never a dull moment with the Reb around. She said she’d get me a nice bottle of wine extra, so here is my choice. Am I the only one who notices the housewives at Trader Joe’s are better looking than at Publix? I got myself some expensive coffee to see if it tastes any better. We took the long way home.
           The engine light on my van was on, this is from that piston that fouls. That’s not the point, it is that the vehicle needs to pass an emissions test and the engine light is an automatic fail. No, you cannot just disable the light, they have to see it wink on during ignition. Well, the usual reset failed, where you turn the ignition three times. I finally got it out by resetting the dash computer.

           The latest business venture is showing the Reb & I now have much more experience with on-line operations. Usually it means questioning the statements made by these people, since they can be carefully scripted to hide things. This one outfit published 32 pictures of checks received by their top performers, but balked when I asked why all the checks were hand-written by different people.
           There is another annoyance that is not something I grew up with. It is the reaction of those on-line when you tell them no. It is one thing to ask why the answer is no, but quite another to demand an explanation. These millennials think they have a right to an explanation when they don’t get their way. Wow, I thought, that’s one skunk-far they are going to have to practice on each other. Can you just see it, telling me I owe an explanation for telling somebody to get lost.

Picture of the day.
Size 26.
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           By late late afternoon, I had the engine light out, but I need to test if it comes on, how long an interval do I have?. Donelson is the only county in Tennessee that still has the emission centers and guess where I’m registered? What? Okay, I’ll tell you how. Disconnect the negative battery terminal, but remember, the on-board computer has a slow capacitor to keep short-term memory. That has to be drained. Turn on your headlights and wait ten minutes. If the light doesn’t go out, repeat for twenty minutes. And the light may not go out right away, be patient.

           Did I ever tell you about special crumbs? Ordinary crumbs are the kind that, if you eat in the car, they fall on the seat and on the carpet. Special crumbs are the ones that don’t fall, because the owner of the car bought the snacks. Just so you know, you cannot buy those crumbs for the owner’s car, only the owner can. That’s what makes them special. See this bag of cheese-flavored popcorn? I did not buy that.

           In the failing light, the Reb & I got out in the back yard to raise that fence. We found a herd of seven deer, munching on fallen acorns. They get pretty tame sometimes. We had to shoo them over the fence, noting which path they took. Sure enough, they like the spot the dog will just fit through. Once again, the Reb & I, working as a team, had the fence up in a little more than an hour. The part we could not finish before dark can be observed from the dining room. I doubt the dog will challenge any weak spots, but he does often wiggle through things like a puppy.
           The conversation was mainly on the latest business od when you are just beginning. That is also the time most mistakes are made. The system bears all the hallmarks of my involvement, such as a massive reserve for things going wrong.

           This makes sense, since my investment share dwarfs all others put together. We tend more to discuss roles, and I do not like dealing with customers. I do it, but I don’t like it. The problem is, how do you place a value on customer service? The latter half of my corporate career was plagued by that hypocrisy. If customer service is so damn important, why is it the lowest-paying job in the company? And why are the people who support it so obviously the least educated bunch, and the ones who don’t have to do the work themselves?
           I’ll reveal more about the business over time. For now, it is enough to know she will deal with the customers, I will deal with the operations. We will be stuck with each other because she would be no better at the complicated paperwork than I would be with talking to people on this one. Watch for flare-ups, although we don’t pay much attention to such things, they are inevitable. The reason for the $7,900 is not to make any impression, but that is the amount I calculate will block 99% of any copycats. (Ten weeks pay for anyone making enough to consider investing.) This may become clearer later. I’ll tell you why.
           Because I have little choice but to begin operations back home, which is a small city. It will be only time before somebody puts the picture together. And I have a cardinal rule about doing business in the same district where I live. I don’t like people asking me for help. It is parallel to why I don’t like performing on stage locally. Once you do, you are always on duty.

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