July 5, 2023
Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 5, 2022, enough to invest.
Five years ago today: July 5, 2018, Twood showed early promise.
Nine years ago today: July 5, 2014, Your brain. You decide.
Random years ago today: July 5, 2008, wrestling the cat.
If this isn’t fake and made in North Dakota, this is the picture of the century so far. It was posted on Mastodon, so those might be grains of salt flying around. If it is authentic, this the Rosetta space mission’s video of the surface of Comet 67P. Not a mention of it in big media, who are occupied trying to convince us the countrys’ biggest issue is still COVID. What I find most convincing is the snowfall. The mild gravity present would allow this even in the absence of an atmosphere. For all I know, the picture is in color.
The books are closed for June, let’s see how we are faring in this rampaging inflation economy. Sooner or later, the spendthrift government policies filter down to the consumer, but normally it takes years. Formerly, this meant government administrations could kick the problem ahead past the end of their terms. Seems not any more, everyone knows it is Biden’s reckless policies chewing up their savings. So where do we stand? Start with the good news. Earlier this year I bitched how Boost had charged me double one month. When I went in to pay today, son of a gun, my bill is corrected and paid up to August 1. They still shafted me a few days, but at least tacitly admitted they were wrong.
Not bad, but the percentages on food and gasoline are climbing. Another small change has to be made. Before, we kept track of what percentages of income went to budget categories. These days expenses always exceed budgeted income, so that is changed to a percentage of expenses. I said budgeted amounts, not total amounts. I have a few charts that compare year to year, but I won’t post them to encourage you to look them up in the blog. Let’s look at some ratios up to June 2023.
I spend almost as much on books and magazines as I do on vehicle repair, though that can change in an instant. My grocery budget has dropped to just over $218 per month, because I don’t buy a lot of processed food. Entertainment has also dropped. That’s due to the Reb & I preferring to go to dinner rather than shopping, it’s just the way that evolved. We have no desire to return to the Peabody in Memphis. This is a 5% drop since 2022, I now spend only 36% of my allocation on food and entertainment. Gas is steady, since I only go to Miami a few times a year. All told, I’m doing okay in an environment where most people apparently are not.
Stories abound of Americans increasingly living off their credit cards. Don’t look at me, I’ve never had a credit card. But I know that is exactly the wrong thing to do when money gets short. There is already a huge anti-usury population in the USA. Let’s hope things don’t get out of hand. Here’s a snap of a replacement tape measure I bought. Says on the label it is “magnetic”. Took me a while to discover they meant the end hook, so you could pick up light objects like dropped nails.
Two guitar players have sent contact notes to my on-line music board. Both we’ve heard from before and both were no-go. I responded saying set up a practice session, now I’ll be the one to wait. You see, normally this happens when the band they chose instead of me folds before it gets anywhere and I’m the one left standing. So these are really call-backs and I can almost assure you I’ve had the “other band” conversation with these guys. The other band will waste your time. When you want to get into an actual playing situation, let me know.
This morning we heard from Caltier and it was good news. They paid out another disbursement, pardon me if I call them a dividend but that’s how they behave. This time $119.26, not bad. That’s at a rate of nearly 12% annually and the second month in a row. Let’s hope this is the pattern. They were five days late. I do not trust on-line businesses, one of the worst misconceptions out there is that these operations represent some solid, honest, well-regulated American-style establishments. Wrong. Have you ever heard of anybody successfully getting their money back from an on-line loss?
What I just wrote was a projection. The actual return year-to-date is hovering near the expected 7%. I’d be pleased to get another $700 by end of the year. The shares are still valued at $5 and that’s something I’m watching. I know they are worth more than that but the policy seems to be keeping the price fixed until all 10 million shares are sold. The Reb & I own over 2,000 of them now. To any newcomers, Caltier is a fund specializing in working-class rental units. So I don’t cry when I hear of massive rent increases. I bought cash and within my means.
Picture of the day.
Shops in Chama, NM.
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Would you like any papaya? How about ten? Five sprouted the same week as the last harvest and they are twenty feet up in the air. The tree is shedding my yard with dead leaves and I think there may a second lay of six growing in another layer way up there. Admit it, you like papaya so much you’ll take all anyone would give. One catch, though, and if you put it back after, you can borrow my ladder. As shown here, the big ones are roughly 2/3rds Wal*Mart™ size.
Having no choice, I purchased a new circular saw today and you’ll get a picture tomorrow. I checked the local pawn shops, knowing the hillbilly has no transportation. No luck, he’s smarter than that. The saw is a cheapo at $35 but that’s a chunk out of my utility bill. I’m holding back over the trip to Seattle, which I know is going to cost thousands. Alaine sent a note after I e-mailed the pictures of the oregano plant. She now says it isn’t even Cuban parsley, but a type of Mexican mint plant. I recall wild mint growing in the orchards out in Yakima when I was 17 and I see the resemblance.
Add a quick shop and I did not get home until after 2:00PM in the sauna, to find a note from Pat-B. He’s on schedule for the move back and I took it upon myself to remind him what a shit-hole south Florida has become. Every second person is an ethnic welfare case.and the rest live in gated communities. I wonder whatever happened to Cowboy Mike. Did he hook up his fifth wheel and make it back to Amelia Island? Let me count, he’d be in his late 80s by now, still learning that cutting a successful hit tune has very little to do with musical ability. The odds of somebody becoming the next music start without connections are the same everywhere.
Unusually late, I decided to go over to the old club for a quiet drink. Since it’s a nothing weekday, I took along a small circuit I’m working on and material to write Marion a letter. Sure enough, and I told you about this 40 years ago, a sprightly gal shows up for the first time. She’s from Nashville and about to be divorced from a “nuclear engineer”, by which she means a US Navy gronk who follows stripes on the wall. Well, she’s with a friend tonight and picked up on the circuit from across the empty bar.
I was hesitant and she was pushy—but in a nice enough way I let her connect. She horned right in on that. Leery of such instant connections, I walked her through what I was doing (at her request). Captivated she was, I had her eating out of my hand. I mistook her for 40-ish but she let it slip she was closer to 60, so not too shabby at all. I’m going to dismiss a lot of this to what I know is the “shock value” of the situation. She’s a cut above usual so if she approaches me again, I will be more accommodating. Immediately she was a cut above the rest, but not divorced yet, which slams on the brakes.
So there are no illusions, the guy she was with was not her husband. She is not from Mulberry, but left Wachaula at 18 and is just returning now to her mother’s. I paid no attention to them for an hour, which is my normal dealing with couples. When she came over, it revealed this friend of hers was after her butt. That means he already puts me in the enemy camp. What happens from here could depend on whether she plays guitar. Unless appearances are deliberately deceiving, I’ve waited a while to meet a gal like this. Even then I am not touching any topic that springs to mind.
What is this? Fingernail polish. No, I have no military brass visiting, this is a tool. The LED dimmer circuit is now completely tested and from robot club days, we’ve learned to give the whole shebang a coat of polish. It has to be clear, so you can read the components. This is totally a protectant for exposed circuits intended to be handled. It has no electronic purpose. Ah, I heard someone ask why not use something cheaper like shellac? Try it. Shellac as two qualities in addition to being cheaper. A lower melting point and a persistent aroma. Mind you, it works if you don’t mind reapplying it once a year.
Last Laugh
