May 31, 2024

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 31, 2023, playful at times.
Five years ago today: May 31, 2019, a day in Murfreesboro.
Nine years ago today: May 31, 2015, 8,000 of them.
Random years ago today: May 31, 2022, mechanic’s yardstick.

           The kangaroo court convicted Trump and a Colt AR-15, the “assault rifle” still legal to own in 46 states now sells a basic model (the “Enhanced Patrol”) for $1,340. I’ll budget for two, the ammunition can be very hard to procure. Well, Trump has definitely just won the 2024, as every minority in the land now know they will be believed when they say the court system is rigged. If the Democrats hoped to discredit Trump or discourage his voters, that plan has already backfired. Trump support has soared 6% since the verdict and an estimated $35 to $50 million in donations. In other good news is Chooks is okay, though still favoring the paw. Here’s more news from the blog that dares.

           You know that bad stretch of road at the entrance to the Tennessee subdivision? They finally decided to repave it and took the grading equipment in to remove the top 1-1/2 inches, the usual to expose the roadbed. They hit dirt and rocks. The road had never been properly constructed and the guilty parties are long gone. They figure the road only l asted as long as it did because the generally light duty vehicles kept the thin layer of topping reasonably well packed for the past twenty years.

           This morning draws to a rapid close due to my rule of working only until the first mistake caused by factors like fatique, inattention, goof-ups, that type of thing. So wanting to fix a small magnet in place, I grab one of those single-use tubes of crazy glue. I use them all the time since they’ve never invented a container that can be sealed right. I affix the nozzle and on its own the glue comes flying out. See all those chest hairs I’ve got? Yep. So it’s not like I could just peel off the dried layers. I think I’ll take at least the morning off and write letters.
           Caltier paid on time this month, with a low but reasonable return for the month. I was expected $140, we got $111. I’m still learning how this form of investing works. One calculation they do, is a weighted average return, now listed at 10.1% since inception. It’s based on the day they receive the funds, so I don’t have direct access to that information. This is the second month running they have paid in two parts with no explanation. That is, instead of a payment of $100, they list it as a payment of $85 and another of $15. Normally I associate this type of split payment with tax accounting. With Caltier, I’m in the dark.

           I was outside just ten minutes, to check all the nooks for wasp nests, it’s that season. I found two beginning stems and sprayed them. Inside, I found a documentary on the war in North Africa, which is one of my favorite studies. It had new footage, but the commentary was still biased, portraying the sides as evenly matched and supplied, which they definitely were not. By late 1940 you had the entire British 8th Army against a single German panzer corps. I think Rommel arrived with only 135 tanks and later had two elements of that size. The propaganda was that Rommel had a panzer division, which at that time would have meant 430 tanks, and he never had half that. (The Italian tankettes don’t count.).
           This clip shows Rommel walking past graves of German dead at Tobruk. Far from an armored thrust at Cairo, Trump was using the last of the captured fuel and trucks from Tobruk to pre-empt what he knew was a coming Allied offensive with overwhelming American support.
           There are several ways to count the forces, but I accept that there were only 40,000 Germans and 70 German tanks at El Alamein, against 230,000 Allied troops with 1,200 tanks. The Allies also had almost a 4:1 superiority in aircraft. These figures are not to be taken as forces that met in battle, rather that the Allies could man the entire front against Germans who had to concentrate at a few points. By simple probles, Montgomery could tell where ther Germans were not.

Picture of the day.
Some banks in Bermuda.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The saw table is still resting on the ground. I can’t life it by myself, but I did get it air blasted and clean for the first time in what must be centuries. The metal flanges say no to a router, but I have not had it under an inspection light. I moved some lumber and finally built a small canopy over the shelving for the insecticide area. I drilled some cardboard to see if the drill bits fit, and it will be too much work unless I figure out a way to drill five layers at a time. Here’s brunch, I was hard-pressed to find you any pictures today.

           NPR radio is the only station burning through, so does anyone out there know how antennas work? I want music and the summer reception drops to zilch. It’s ll investment hype, that Boomers need to protect themselves from the tax grab that will follow any Democrat victory in November. I believe they will cheat, that they will not allow another Trump victory, but also that the American public will not allow another steal. Now the picture is bigger, but NPR will not go there.

           The way I see it is the last of the Boomers will be dead or nearly so within ten years. This is the last generation that the system allowed to accumulate tax-free wealth. And that amounts to probably $100 trillion. Land, housing, investments, all of which the millennials are about to inherit—and most of them haven’t a clue how to manage such wealth. It and they are ripe for the plucking, and all the so-called financial planners and managers have spend decades making sure nothing will happen to them if they steal it. And the government has made sure they will get their hands on s good chunk—nor will they ever allow the public to have such wealth again.
           You see, somebody like Trump might come along and get them organized, or worse, unite them. It also means there are going to be hundreds of thousands of new millionaires, most of who don’t know a bond discount from a sunk cost or how to read a balance sheet; The richest heirs in American history cannot reconcile their own bank statements.

           TMOR (to my overseas readers) I’m

taking a moment to clarify what happened with President Trump. He was convicted of no specific crime and the verdict will immediately be repealed, and the Democrat regime knows this. However, they control the American press and they want headlines. These headlines used to influence elections more than they do now, and in the run-up to 2020, the Democrats had a stripper threaten to say Trump had an affair with her. She has since (wisely) said that it never happened, But Trump did what many were forced to under the circumstances, which is settle out of court for her to no publish the story—there is no mention of it being true or false, nor any admission of guilt.
           The entire charade was to influence the election against Trump. But, the Democrats also control much of the legal system through political appointments. They know plenty about election interference, so they charged Trump with trying to, you guessed it, interfere with the election. Democrats always accuse others of doing what they themselves are doing. So what is behind the 34 felonies? So what is behind the 34 felonies? Trump didn’t pay his lawyer a lump, rather time payments. Yep, 34 of them.

ADDENDUM
           Why not go downtown, so I did. The club had a third rate mandolin-guitar duo who were old enough to know better. They played mostly the standards and had brought two tables of cheerleaders. Don’t get me wrong, the locals ate this up. This, folks, is why I tend to not play in the clubs I would normally hang out--people expect less from strangers. The novelty of a “bluegrass” group easily plowed over the generally poor music. The show was quite well received, but was maybe half the standards we have done there on jam nights.

Last Laugh