One year ago today: February 4, 2024, watching the flames.
Five years ago today: February 4, 2020, as it happened.
Nine years ago today: February 4, 2016, he knew how.
Random years ago today: February 4, 2013, bad, old Barb.
I pulled a reverse-millennial on the bank last evening. Pissed their security right off. See addendum. The nation awakes to incredible good news, at least for us. The tariff threat cleaned up a swath of little bullshit countries that got to big for their breaches. Mexico is smarter today than they were y’day, Canada is instituting border and immigration controls, and Columbia is flying their criminals back. Dear Planet, the free ride is over. Trump is not attacking the Democrats. They were expecting that. Instead, he has cut off their money supply. We are bing treated to horror stories of some of the things they were wasting taxpayer money on.
See this blurry letter? It’s on purpose, that is a complete hand-written personal letter. I just figured it’s been too long since most people have seen one. I leave it to future techniques to unblur it as proof that people with nothing better to do will always exist. It’s early, lets check the news, drink coffee, and ponder if I’ll accomplish much today. I woke up tired. Not too tired for a chicken and grits breakfast. Texas health food.
The 45 minute round trip means I listened to another audio chapter. Alice gets sprayed by a skunk and winds up in the dress of the library handyman’s ex-wife. Nothing so far, but Alice is reading a hush-hush book on women’s needs in a marriage. The story is picking up. Her co-worker at the library insulted the mine boss, Alice’s father-in-law, over the library having a black clerk, by pointing out the mine just listed their’s as “mulatto”. Alice was told to quit the job, which she refused to do, and this was 1937. Now we’re getting somewhere.
Nope, I could not get moving today. Nor can I fall back asleep, meaning my best option is to go for a long drive. I’m weighing my options. Then again, so is most of this country. Trump is not just stopping payments, he’s firing the ones who were making them and not accepting “doing my job” as an excuse. Makes sense, most of them knew what they were doing was wrong. I can’t wait for the secondary experience to hit street level. That’s where each dollar saved firing a government employee saves $3 in support structure. Where the Democrats used to cry there will be a depression or recession of there are wholesale government firings, the public appears ready to pay that price.
Here is a movie clip from Derry Downs last evening. This is the best I can do with the new and crappier version of Movie Maker. There was nothing wrong with the old version. But MicroSoft just cannot leave well enough alone. And of course, they removed some of the best features and made the old versions incompatible. The background audio track can no longer be placed correctly and the resulting files are huge, too much for my email limit.
Wait, there is more. El Salvador built a huge prison system, but after the worst of the criminals were rounded up, the rest cleaned up their acts. This left surplus capacity, which El Salvador has offered to house US criminals at a fraction of the cost of using US facilities. I would be okay with that.
Harbor Beach, Florida.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
Here is the first prototype of a box I would offer for sale at $20. It’s a loss on labor, but I no longer have to labor for a living it is positive cash flow. There were jobs on the bench. The first is made from fence panels, as described recently. I always wondered what that fan-shaped tip was on propane nozzles. I have not worked out the cost of propane for this finish but it is certainly faster, easier, and it is ready instantly. The second picture shows my first stab at a matching set. These are boxes from last year just getting their hardware now.
Trump is hinting at a Social Welfare Fund. You best keep any eye on that. Technically, the original Social Security was a close cousin. The concept is that a government invests a portion of each taxpayers money into schemes that support the long-term status quo. The danger is when the fund gets grabbed by greedy people, as was SS. This left the coffers empty and whenever money was needed, the government went to the Federal Reserve/Treasury and printed it up. You’ve seen the results of that.
What is that wonderful aroma? Blueberry muffins. I said I was unmotivated, not lazy, have a couple, they won’t last. Anyway, a SWF provides an alternative to the Treasury. Think of it as the way I keep a huge buffer, so that if I get hit with $10,000 in extra expenses, I do not have to borrow money. But I do have to maintain that buffer which all poor people can tell you is not easy and I took a real hit recently. I had, by the way, spent $6,200 on vehicles in the 20 months before I got hit.
Ha, within hours of Trump cutting off USAID, dozens of industries are suddenly in trouble. Politico, the media outfit, has missed payroll. In fact, Trump has only put a 90 day freeze—but it is almost instantly causing widespread exposure of just now many tens of thousands of individuals are involved in the disgusting business of handing out taxpayer money to foreigners. Trump is smart, surmising that such vile operations become used to the steadiness of a government handout and do not keep reserves to last more than a pay period. Thousands of people are already complaining and the taxpayers are laughing at them.
One particularly satisfying aspect is the complaints that pending layoffs will cause these operations to lose all their top and most experienced people. As if handing out free money is a valuable skill set. I personally am okay with reports that DC is “about to be oversaturated with thousands of newly unemployed people with no clear path forward.” What part of drain the swamp did they not understand?
ADDENDUM
I drove all the way to Winter Haven and the bank door would not open. The sign on the door said access hours had been restricted. No notice on-line or at all, just another millennial sign in the door. Now, that is supposed to mean the lobby area door is locked, but folks with cards can still access the ATM. However, both the bank and their security seemed too stupid to figure this out.
Work with me here. The next nearest ATM (I used a ATM card, not a credit card) is a forty mile round trip, I’m low on gas, and I have plans to attend a guitar show. So, which is more important. I saw people inside, so I tapped on the window and said “Your car is on fire.” As the first employee ran out the door, I held it open, used the ATM, and walked out. The security guard said the lobby was closed, I told him to go fuck himself. By this time, a host of other ATM customers were outside, also pissed off at the bank. I left, so I don’t know what happened. And I don’t care. Any more than the bank cared I drove all the way over there.
