Another day that starts out cool, but gets warmer, and might have rain. Like yesterday. But with maybe more rain. Because despite forecasts, there was very little rain for me yesterday. I drove all over town too.
Made most of my pickups. A late start caused by my bank kept me from doing everything I planned, but I can make it up today. I spent over an hour trying to get a cashier’s check at the local B of A branch. IDK if it was incompetence, or if the young lady is afflicted with an unfortunate malady that sabotages her interactions with computers, but after failing to get me a check for 45 minutes, they finally took me to a teller window where I spent another 15-20 minutes doing the dance of the doomed waiting for the stars to align and printers to print…
As part of the service she asked me what my short and long term goals were. And she really did make the extra effort to be certain I gave her an answer. So I told her I just wanted to make it through the coming financial collapse with some assets left. She asked how I intended to do that. Gold, piles of gold, and rental properties. She was a bit taken aback, so I pointed out Ferfal’s aphorism that you can sell a gold chain an inch at a time, and that as long as the tenants can pay, if inflation wipes out the value of money, you can keep raising the rent. It was a bit more than she could easily absorb.
Unrelated but interesting, I found out that an acquaintance had a windfall and without any warning or even an inkling of what was going to happen, inherited “life changing amounts of money.” “F YOU!” amounts. “Never work again” amounts. It would suck really hard for them if an economic collapse took that away from them. If anyone should have something like that happen, it was this person.
What would you need to be in that category? What would you do after you got it? What would you do to keep it?
I would probably keep doing what I’m doing. I’d have people to do stuff for me, and I’d like to have a ‘mad scientist’s lab’ but IDK if I’d change much. I would certainly stack some things….
How ’bout you?
nick
The Capitol Police dealing directly with the “shaman” more than likely made a phone call name check and quickly concluded that *the honorably discharged veteran* was safer to escort around the building than the Congressman with the “Bang Bang” Chinese spy girffriend. The original plan was probably to let him leave his note, print him, and then allow the fine for tresspassing in the Capitol teach him a pricey lesson.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65132475
I speak from experience when I say that, in the US, stepping out of your house wearing the wrong thing will make certain women – I’m not limiting this category to biological females but trying to avoid the “p-” word – view you as a threat and, as our troll friend puts it, “clutch their pearls” in fear.
Warmish and damp this morning.
—yes, the US has political prisoners. US citizens in solitary confinement, for 800 days so far, without access to representation, WAITING FOR TRIAL. Not even convicted of trumped up charges, but WAITING FOR TRIAL.
We have thought police. And the regular police were bad enough. We have fedgov agencies working against politicians, and ordinary people. ALL while giving certain people and classes of people a free pass to commit blatant crimes.
The goal of terrorists is to make life for ordinary people so bad that they demand change, any change, to government. Our own government is acting like terrorists.
n
Life changing money is a little different for everyone. For me, it would have to be 2M+. That would allow me to call in rich. My lifestyle wouldn’t change, I’d just be secure in having enough money to not worry and also pass a good chunk on to my son someday.
OK, the one change would be to build a new house. Further out so I could have a little land (5-10 acres), no HOA, and a nice 60×80 shop. The new house would likely be smaller than our current one though.
Until the Feds impose another eviction moratorium.
I’m glad I’m not in the TBTF banks anymore. You’re probably going to get a phone call from Merrill Lynch, or, worse, BofA Private Wealth Management, depending on account balances.
The Two Percenters on the hunt for fresh victims -er- clients.
Happy Transgender Day of Visibility.
Brought to you by plugsy McSpongeBrain The Last.
Wait! This is Cesar Chavez Day, official California holiday. Democratic stooge.
Obummer made it a US holiday too by royal decree.
Until the Feds impose another eviction moratorium.
– yes, that is a hazard, but it’s mitigated because we don’t use leverage to buy rental property. We don’t have a nut to cover, except taxes, and we can protest them here. During all the recent nonsense, our tenants were never late with a payment.
Until the wuflu reaction madness, I hadn’t given rent control or abrogation as a risk. I do now, but I think rental property, PARTICULARLY commercial property which doesn’t have the same tenant protections as residential, is about the best inflation protected investment ordinary people can make. Commercial has its own risks, especially in an economic downturn, but you can lock the doors and kick the non-payer to the curb.
n
plugs: transgenders are the soul of the country.
No, they are not. An estimated less than 2% and I don’t believe most of those are really trans, just a thing to say to be a part of the in crowd.
posted in yesterdays comments
From the other day: Peter Zeihan is all over YouTube with presentations demonstrating American strategic advantages in geography and demography vis a vis China, Russia, Ukraine, etc. He makes seemingly valid points on food and energy security. I’m not sure his viewpoint on matters financial is as well thought out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzipwDQBUyc
https://www.amazon.com/End-World-Just-Beginning-Globalization-ebook/dp/B09C65JNPF/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=peter+zeihan&qid=1680277776&sr=8-3
Forgot to mention-
hit the grocery store yesterday. LOTS of ‘fill in the blank spots’ activity. Two open top coolers filled with store brand orange drink. The whole beer cooler filled with one row of Topo Chico.
There were other places filled with one layer of a single item too.
No cream or cream products, just empty shelves. Very few eggs left in the cooler.
The store is remodeling so some of the low stock levels may be to facilitate that, but it doesn’t help me fill my cart…
and it doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies that things are getting better.
n
I am informed that today is “World Backup Pay”, so there are some special deals on storage devices. https://www.cnet.com/deals/world-backup-day-deals/
I ordered a 20TB WD hard drive for half-price.
Life changing money is a little different for everyone. For me, it would have to be 2M+. That would allow me to call in rich. My lifestyle wouldn’t change, I’d just be secure in having enough money to not worry and also pass a good chunk on to my son someday.
OK, the one change would be to build a new house. Further out so I could have a little land (5-10 acres), no HOA, and a nice 60×80 shop. The new house would likely be smaller than our current one though.
$2M is not enough to do anything. You need $10M. First, building a house now is $200/ft2 to $300/ft2. Land is $10,000 to $25,000 per acre in the boonies. And rarely do you have cash, instead you usually have a lot of things that are not easily convertible to cash.
I had a friend buy a 150 acre ranch in the boonies about a 80 miles due west of here. No house. No electricity. He had to pay the rural coop over $100,000 to pull in electricity, it was 30 or 40 pole plus wiring. That was a decade ago, I’ll bet the cost is double now. He ran on a generator for a while before he burned it up and gave in. Then he had water problems. Then the cattle got sick.
Try me. I will give it a chance if someone gives me the money. At the local CU I could receive almost $8K a month in interest. That is for me doing nothing. I could have a $4K a month house payment and still live well enough.
New contender in space travel.
Backing up the Library of Congress?
Got me thinking so
https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2012/04/a-library-of-congress-worth-of-data-its-all-in-how-you-define-it/
with room to spare
That got the Internet Archive in trouble:
…and…
I’d be good with a million. If Ray can get almost 8K interest on 2 mil, I’ll be super cool with the 4K from 1 mil.
I’d get the house painted. By someone besides me. With the Good paint. Then have the cedar brush cleared and the piles of brush burned. Might go crazy and have the driveway paved, more gravel in a couple of places anyway.
That’s all I can think of for now. I don’t need or want a new car. Might go for that 85″ flat screen just because.
Oh, wait. I have a Splurge Item. Someone comes and mows the place maybe four times a year. With their equipment. I can piss about on my riding mower around the house between the pro mowings.
That sounds about right. PEC gives you two poles and then you pay extra per pole. I forget how much. Buy yeah, running juice into the middle of 150 acres for one meter… you are paying as you are the only meter on that line.
Copyright laws are wacky. It should be twenty years after the author dies (so the heirs can make a bit) (while sorting out the estate) and then it’s public domain.
Disney has Micky Mouse still under copyright after almost 100 years? That’s not right.
Oh wait…. “infringes the publishers’ copyrights”. Not the author’s copyrights, the PUBLISHERS copyright.
Didn’t someone some where and some when say “First we kill all of the lawyers”?
>> “McCarthy hinted that GOP-controlled House committees could soon subpoena Bragg to compel his testimony before Congress: “The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.””
Do not antagonize the Speaker of the House lightly.
IIRC, pre Nov 2022, Mr. McCarthy “promised” a number of House investigations/hearings starting Day1 of the new session. Seems though that many are being slow-walked. J6 for example.
Has his agenda changed??
>> The goal of terrorists is to make life for ordinary people so bad that they demand change, any change, to government.
The terrorists ‘gifted us’ the TSA after 9/11. And it still exists today, pretty much unchanged. Seems for the most part the masses just grugingly accept the security theater, rather than demanding much, other than PreCheck.
The terrorists still seem to be ahead on the scoreboard.
>> plugs: transgenders are the soul of the country.
No, they are not. An estimated less than 2% and I don’t believe most of those are really trans, just a thing to say to be a part of the in crowd.
Or to gawk in Ladies locker rooms.
>> The store is remodeling so some of the low stock levels may be to facilitate that, but it doesn’t help me fill my cart…
and it doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies that things are getting better.
At least they’re confident enough to continue on with the remodeling.
>> Life changing money is a little different for everyone. For me, it would have to be 2M+. That would allow me to call in rich. My lifestyle wouldn’t change, I’d just be secure in having enough money to not worry and also pass a good chunk on to my son someday.
Take some of that money and consult a good estate lawyer to advise you how to protect the money in case of a catastrophic medical issue.
Thanks for the idea.
9/11 was a gift to bureaucrats. After the intelligence and police agencies screwed up and let the terrorists slip through and bring down the twin towers, the intelligence and police agencies were given vastly increased powers and budgets.
Kafka would be proud to have thought this up.
Apropos of that: My neighbor came by with his gas powered trimmer – actually the brush trimmer, and we did about 4000sf this morning.
It got away from me, just too much rain and wet this year, and my little 18v trimmer & gear wasn’t up to it. Unfortunately it wasn’t tractor accessible either.
Paul:
A couple of goats? They’ll keep your grass and weeds trimmed continually.
My wife wants a goat. I keep telling her it’s against the municipal code. So far she believes me.
Who really believed that McCarthy would be any different than Hastert/Boehner/Ryan?
Tucker Carlson got the “Shaman” released, but someone has dropped a dime on him as well.
Don’t think so (sez the dept of corrections and his lawyer). Many news sources state this.
He got time off for good behavior. Just like for any other person.
He got time off for good behavior. Just like for any other person.
– he may have had time off, but he was released early when the exculpatory video evidence, that DOJ had suppressed, was released and highlighted by Tucker.
n
Many news sources state this.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/developing-level-3-mass-casualty-event-declared-after-catastrophic-tornado-rips-through-little-rock-arkansas-600-injured-video/
DEVELOPING: ‘Level 3 Mass Casualty’ Event Declared After Catastrophic Tornado Rips Through Little Rock, Arkansas – 600+ Injured
At least three dead, dozens trapped and more than SIX HUNDRED injured as monster tornadoes tear through Arkansas flattening neighborhoods and tossing trucks into trees – with 21 states now on twister alert
President and membership chair of University of Wyoming sorority ‘DISMISSED’ female students’ fears about admitting trans women who is now accused of ‘peeping at them while visibly aroused’
See here and other news sources
, in part, because of his good behavior while in prison
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons permitted its existing protocols, some of which are nuanced,
– do any of the linked sources say he was already scheduled for release BEFORE the exculpatory evidence was released and publicized by Tucker and others? Or is it just a little bit probable that the weasel wording in the statement quoted provides the smallest of fig leaves for the DOJ?
n
Until the wuflu reaction madness, I hadn’t given rent control or abrogation as a risk. I do now, but I think rental property, PARTICULARLY commercial property which doesn’t have the same tenant protections as residential, is about the best inflation protected investment ordinary people can make. Commercial has its own risks, especially in an economic downturn, but you can lock the doors and kick the non-payer to the curb.
I am making about 20% return on my commercial property. I have three tenants. It has been a money and wealth builder for me.
Freebird on bagpipes. Yes, you can, but should you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27in81lrf6M
n
@NickFlandrey
The early release was considerably earlier than the rules provide for.
It is being reported that the release was “in the works” since January.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/30/qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley-released-from-prison-14-months-early/
Big whoop. Why do I suspect that the wheels were put in motion because it was anticipated that the exculpatory footage would be easily found and generate considerable outrage? And why, if it was “win the works”, did Chansley’s attorney apparently not know about it? If the order was signed Jan 20, how is it that no one noticed? When was it released? Or was it a stealth add to the docket months later?
https://time.com/6267335/jan-6-qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley-released-early-prison/
I know the goobermint discourages higher math skills–and apparently no one at the Times has them–but 54 days times 41 months/12 years is 184.5 days, or about 6 months. Not 14.
If Watkins, who has been replaced as Chansley’s attorney and is reportedly being labeled as “inadequate representation”, is checking docket entries after TC aired the exculpatory footage, perhaps he can enlighten us on when the Jan 20 order was added to the docket.
from above: “6 months. Not 14.”
Reversing the calculation, that is 126 days per year sentenced.
That, chilluns, puts the goobermint between a rock and a hard place.
They are going to have to provide an explanation for the widely characterized face of Jan 6 getting extraordinary treatment. Then maybe we can get Garland the liar up before the House again to claim that he didn’t know sweet FA about it.
Every attorney for a Jan 6 victim* should be filing for equal or better treatment.
*Come on, man!* If a person who meticulously plans the murder of adults and children can get sympathy in MSM as a victim, then it’s past time to seize the language. Alinsky, remember?
*Richard Feynman
I keep hearing “biden did xxx”
Take a look at the video this week where the mike was inadvertently left open and we can hear SFB Biden being guided down the ramp, told where to walk, told to stop on the blue mark, and told, after who knows how many times before, who he is meeting with.
FJB can’t do anything, and probably needs a pictogram in the Big Guy Loo to help him clean up after Joey does number two, if he doesn’t actually have help.
@Nick
“Freebird on bagpipes.”
NFW.
The 7th installment of Murderbot is a short-short published in Wired Magazine (a pale, woke shadow of it’s original shelf which barely acknowledges a bit from a byte unless there is an SJW reason).
The 8th drops in November as a 256-page book.
Female California police union exec, 64, is charged with running eight-year, global FENTANYL operation from her gated community home – and using the union’s UPS account to ship the killer drug
– “is some people gonna die? ” Yes. Some people are going to die. First thing that happens is old scores get settled.
n
Nick:
I’d bet dollars to donuts that MANY people are ALREADY dead from fentanyl poisoning. If the charges don’t include many counts of murder, they SHOULD.
perfect:
https://ace.mu.nu/archives/transcyclist.jpg
Everything is better on bagpipes.
The Raw Numbers
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/03/were-not-in-a-war-right-now-the-united-states-itself-but-if-we-were-on-day-one-the-situation-would-be-critical/
>> The Raw Numbers
Anyone care to ask Vladimir for his comparables?
Hey WSJ, okay to sit this one out.
>> Do not antagonize the Speaker of the House lightly.
Half of the USA is going to be very upset over this.
Now if only we could get every one in that half to the polls Nov 2024.
>>
Everything is better on bagpipes.
Paging @Jenny…
>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11926117/Terrifying-moment-monster-tornado-rips-apart-Arkansas-capital-Little-Rock-80mph-winds.html
@Ray, hope all is well in your area.
>> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11925473/California-police-union-executive-director-ran-fentanyl-operation-home.html
“Getting the union’s UPS discount really helped us with getting out of the red.”
@Jenny, how is the house doing ? We are suppose to be 89 F Saturday. That would melt the snow off your roof.
“? We are suppose to be 89 F Saturday. That would melt the snow off your roof”
Don’t need the steam tables for that one.
unrelated to ny previous posts:
“This isn’t your everyday stupid.
This is ADVNCED stupid”
meme found on the net.
illustration has SpongeBob thingy.
The next time someone tells you that Mother Nature gives an actual shiite about your gas stove:
https://twitter.com/ChannelInteres/status/1640774381029793792