One year ago today: January 6, 2024,winter’s here.
Five years ago today: January 6, 2020, the Reb’s back.
Nine years ago today: January 6, 2016, it’s not brown sugar!
Random years ago today: January 6, 2001, budget check.
First, more porridge and we move on to our first disappointment. We are out of 10/2 wiring, and I believe the smallest roll costs a bundle. We are off to Mulberry to find out. The weatherman was a day off, it is a balmy 75°F so away we go. Yes, we are still broke but as long as we stay away from the extras, we’ll be fine. Everything is getting low, even birdseed. The good news is I’ve had enough of everything for the past month. There’s a release about a Stabucks employee getting $25 million for being fired because he was White. I hope it’s true, I really don’t like what Starbucks did to the American coffee tradition.
You know how much 15 feet of 10/3 costs these days? More than half the price of the heater. $65. I know where I’ve got some, but it will mean splicing a wire for the water heater to some of that 50 year old cloth-wound original house wiring. It’s okay, the splice is inside a junction box.
It’s safe but means when I finally get around to the heater, it means buying a roll and crawling under the house a second time. Just when you can use some help, the hillbilly disappears. Or has he? A search on his mother’s maiden name turns out he’s over here in Frostproof. And it must be as serious as we figured as he is held in custody pending trial. The rap sheet shows a most of minor offenses, mostly drug paraphernalia and juvenile misdemeanors. It’s more like they are going to set him up as a trophy. Turns out not only was the girl underage, she’s claiming all kinds of things and they are things that lurk in the minds of bad cops.
The best source of the proceedings is another neighbor across from the church. His wife is a TV crime show addict. She confirms if you fight the charges all the up to a jury trial, the penalties are much harsher than otherwise. I think the hillbilly has been in jail eight months already. This is not looking good for the guy. She got us the mug shot. Yep, he’s been beaten up pretty badly. He won’t last, he is not tough and isn’t the violent type, but that does not stop them from giving him the treatment. My conclusion is that if he gets a lengthy sentence, he is a candidate for suicide.
Grabbing another coffee, I went over the CD account with a critical eye to patterns. Yep, it is there and it is a screw-job, but one that it’s hard to fault the bank over. It’s their CD marketing, you know, when you walk in the bank these days, all the posters crowing about 4.0% to 4.75% APY. There is nothing wrong with an introductory special—if that’s where it ended. I refer again to the difficulty of stopping the CD from rolling over at half that interest rate unless you take action to stop it. The bank does not spell this out, and that is the entire objection here. Yes, you can inform the bank to not roll the CD over by mail But that letter has to be timed to arrive within a ten-day window of the maturity date. That is a hassle for me, so I can imagine for others it becomes downright onerous.
Another aspect strikes me as odd. Banks offering higher rates for $100,000 or more. These days, client accounting is so automated, it seems to me they should offer the better rates to get new, but smaller, customers in the door. Do a Templeton Fund, but with small CD accounts. Why have not the banks figured this out? I say it must be because they are so comfortable.
Long staple cotton.
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By mid-afternoon, I was famished and still twenty miles from home. My appetite is back, that’s a good sign. Another different sign is blocking the road at the railway crossing for 45 minutes. I could hear sirens but say nothing. The traffic is backed up at least five miles and there is no way to turn around once you get out of Mulberry. There I sat listening to the audiobook. I think I figured it out. The gal on the run was held in a hotel room and does not know anything about the city except where our protagonist lives.
The Russian gangsters got out of jail and killed Sonya, the other sex slave. Alexandra has been staying in youth hostels or hospital emergency rooms. But she really has no place to go or get any help except back to the guest room. She better hurry, we have only 1-1/2 disks left.
This is the plain wood box with the hardware installed. Yes, the handle is that drawer pull you saw two days ago. It’s not fancy, but this is the first box that contains all of my favorite building techniques learned to date. It is another fast-build. No plans, all sawn, jointed, and fastened with power tools. The drawer handle bolts still have to be shortened. But, here is a useful box, probably destined for loose drill bits. I break a lot of drill bits. Give me a plank long enough these days and all I see is a box in the making.
By early dusk, the temp is falling and the wind is picking up. I got the heater mounted in time, but not the wiring. It isn’t as heavy as it looks, I had it up there by myself in a couple minutes. It still involved lifting the thing chest high. That single effort felt like an hour’s work after so we are not going out break dancing this evening. Around the neighborhood all the long-timers are wisely getting everything done while the rookies are sundecking for what they think is going to just another storm.
Today the election of Trump was certified. I don’t know (or care) the process, but the nation knows this is a crippling blow to the Democrats, who dared not try to oppose the ceremony. They had to content themselves with bragging that the even was “peaceful” and compare to the "most gruesome attack” where, they say, a defeated Trump “sent rallygoers to fight like hell”. But the glum faces on Harris and the others told the real story. And Trudeau, the Canadian guy who looks like Castro, has stepped down, as he puts it. He’s being thrown out by his heels. Trump in and Trudeau out on the same day, a victory for humanity.
Signs of a crumbling Chinese economy appear again as their bond market gets in trouble. CNN is furious as a White blonde cheerleader wins Miss America. Who cares, the pageant is on its way out by ending the swimsuit, evening wear, and appearance categories. The word on the street is that today’s weather made it too cold for Antifa to riot. Here’s another way corruption works. Over time, the Democrats have calculated the exact number of members who can do a no-show to prevent their opponents from forming a quorum. This has become flagrant in places like Wisconsin and Arizona.
ADDENDUM
I used the headphone to voice enter some of the earliest journal material. This was the era when I first went to the west coast, not knowing I’d be there twenty years. The voice-to-text is finicky and seems to have changed itself from what I set up. I went to setting and activated the feature, which worked for a while then quit. When I went to turn it back on, the icon was missing, but replaced with “voice recognition” which I did not want. And, although I dictate perfect English, the system is fraught with errors. Lots of the. So far, I have spend at much time fixing those errors as it would have taken to key enter them.
However, speaking is much easier. I should also consider that the millions of words I’ve type could eventually mean carpal tunnel and I may need speech software. Just now I’m working with some badly deteriorate looseleaf sheets from February of 1980. Get this, I mention things like rampant inflation, immigrants getting a free ride, and sidecar motorcycles. The character, Rob, is later known as “Moogie.”
