April 1, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 1, 2024, two forms of rich.
Five years ago today: April 1, 2020, Happy Millennial Day.
Nine years ago today: April 1, 2016, I hate NPR.
Random years ago today: April 1, 2005, these Robert Half people . . .

           Good eye, those of you who spotted a disruption of events these past two days. I’m $5,900 lighter than when I got up this morning. A big chunk of it was the new transmission on the van. That’s the tail end of the Valdosta Event of August last year. The figure of $8,100 lost dollars is only the amount that was over budget. The actual total was a lot more. We now also have the heavy duty tow bar installed on the Hyundai. Ha, that tow bar is 15% of the price of the whole van. Ouch, but I’m not likely to forget that $1,520 tow job that could have been prevented by a $200 tow bar.

           That’s another tale from the trailer court. The Texan did say he’d install the bar for free. He did not say it would be another three weeks. Let’s pause and look at the real numbers. The tow bar was heavy duty, I paid extra, $240. It was also heavy, period, requiring two people to install it even when on a lift. The trick to getting it done for $80 is learning to speak Spanish 40 years ago. I tipped them $20 and now have after-hours access to a fully equipped mechanic shop, which let’s not underestimate.

           I was also able (in Spanish) to get the transmission price down from $1,614 to $1,365. I also got a break on the shop rate, but check with me next week as the estimate is ten hours. Scratch the whole morning since this kind of chasing around is no joke in Florida. The effect of the Trump resurgence in confidence meant two hours driving time this afternoon to cover 44 miles. The roads are full of traffic again.

           Here’s a view of the tow bar, yes, it is heavy duty. This is only one part of the expense and planning. While I’m not hoping for a test, one tow and it pays for itself. Here is a short video of the ONLY way to get anything done or fixed in contemporary Florida. And I tipped the guy $20 for accepting the correct brand of American payment that should be the only way people do business anymore. And for those who never see more than $1,000 except on payday, this is only one handful of the money that flew out the window today.

           Funny that while this is taking place, I’m also hearing my second “Depression” audiobook. Between the two, I’m a captive audience. The plot of the book, meant to somewhat almost glorify poverty as the element of society that embodies all good, is unintentionally listing dozens of the evils and don’t-dos I’ve ladled out in this block for centuries. My half-written book is about the things you avoid when you are stuck in poverty, or more to the point, stuck around people who have the poverty attitude. They are far, far, far, far more likely to be your ondoing than any physical knife in the back. They know by trying to get ahead, you are burning up energy that God told you to was only to be used to become more like them.

Picture of the day.
Thiomargarita magnifica.
(World’s largest bacteria.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Now, let me record the smaller events. Blog is so a thousand years from now folks will know that America is a crud existence, but that crud is better than anywhere else in the world. I picked up the 25 feet of wire for the new outlets. That was $40. Those light-detecting dimmer went on sale, so I grabbed a couple. Our little mouse is now over in the Confederate Cemetery where his odds of survival kind of match the terrain. I played through some of the new guy’s music list, I always did like soft tunes like “Come Monday” that are over quickly.

           I’d have preferred getting work done today but so far it’s been chasing around, so here is a nice photo of the brass thermometer showing it is 74°F inside the house today. I have all the fans operating full blast, which will be needed since the next work day will be installing some electrical wiring on that kitchen wall. It has to last forever as far as I’m concerned.

           The schedule on the KIA is sometime next week. I shopped for a price on the install and all four shops came it at a price within $150. Gosh, what a coincidence. I went with the KIA dealership, the one that put all the free upgrades into the vehicle. I won’t tow it there myself, as my neighbor has a wrecker and can back-haul it for cheap. Today I bled money. Here is a shot of me planning the big budget ahead to March of 2026. There is talk of infusing the stolen billions saved by DOGE back into Social Security, which would be a massive shot in the arm for me and for America. There’s my budgeting equipment, a Budweiser, a pen, and some paper.

           It’s clear the austerity has to be long term around here. Good thing we are operating at a surplus, just don’t conclude any of that happened by accident. I spent a quarter of April’s food budget just on basics this morning. That includes a sample of the expensive fancy coffee, which I’ll review for you sometime tomorrow. I’ll keep it a mystery, saying only that it is heavily advertised and for an initial trial, I go for a medium roast.

           On the way home, I went past two of the old clubs. The Legion is open and everything seems fine. That’s where I stopped for the beer. The old club in Bartow was closed up and I had to check that out. A sign in the window says it is a temporary closure for needed repairs. That makes more sense than what I fear in a year or two, or if the Vegas people buy the place. Remember the Old Oregon Tavern. It isn’t there any more. The same process is taking place here. The new people want to make it a big city club, but the big city isn’t there.
           Tomorrow is tariff day. I ordered the new transmission ahead of any potential problems there. In the old days you could pick up stock before price hikes. Nowadays, it is just a keypress. How about this classic, a guy says he was fired illegally. It is so hard not to take sides when you see this kind of thing.

Last Laugh