Cold, or maybe just cool, but certainly still wet. It’s been dreary here at the BOL. Yesterday wasn’t as cold as some days last week, but it was misty and drizzly all day. Sun finally broke through just before dusk, which was nice. Forecast is calling for lower temps but I am hoping it’s wrong.
Did some more cleanup, but mostly stayed inside and chatted with our visitors. Did a crockpot brisket for dinner, then played games for a while. It was too nasty out for a fire so I called it an early night.
Today I’m going to do some more cleanup, play some more games, and spend more time just chatting. If it’s not raining, we’ll do hamburgers for dinner. A simple easy day.
Sometimes that’s the best kind of day.
nick
(stacking up time with family, it’s important too.)
Yup. I’m also facing a number of decisions this year, and in the next couple of years. We don’t know how long we’ll live. We don’t know what inflation will be like. We don’t know if benefits will change. And so much more.
On the European front, another murder by another Islamist refugee, this time in Austria. Then he sat down and grinned when the police showed up – perfectly happy with what he had done.
Hey, he sparked something new: people are talking about the death penalty, for the first time in a long time.
Greetings! Very glad we’re back! The internet was a lonely place for a while there.
Nick, I was checking your personal site for an update about here, but found none there…
About the latest attack in Austria… it appears that the attacker, a Syrian, was stopped by another Syrian, a delivery driver, who ran the bad guy over with his car. Crunchy.
It is 39 F and gusty here on the West side of Fort Bend County. I’ve got several things that I am thinking about:
Serious questions that involve lots of money and/or time.
“Trump to Ban SNAP Recipients from Purchasing Unhealthy Foods”
https://resistthemainstream.com/trump-floats-shocking-policy-affecting-snap-recipients/?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=newsletter1
No more Red Bull and Oreos on SNAP ?
It is suppose to be 1 F this week in Norman, Oklahoma where I am headed next Sunday. Freaking cold ! Black ice !
Everyone uses the same basic algorithm for order of precedence in evaluating mathematical expressions in software. C has more complicated rules to account for logical operators and pointer math, but the mnenomic is probably applicable.
Your intent in your class was to impart knowledge. That wasn’t the goal of the trainers at GTE in Tampa in the early 90s, particularly with regard to Skippy.
Some people can’t accept that they will come out short on some individuals’ time budgeting balance sheets.
Once on the job, I never approved a code review where someone depended purely on order of precedence for the correct answer in a complicated math expression, regardless of whether the unit testing showed the expression was correct. Even by that time, compilers were smart enough to optimize out the parenthesis so there wasn’t a need to do the optimization in the source code.
Papa Murphy’s pizza.
The deep dish pizza swims in a “lake” of … butter ? … which is absorbed into the crust as part of the cooking process.
I know Giordano’s has roughly a stick of margarine plus another 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in the crust of a 10″ pie, but that isn’t butter.
Not to be macabre or any such implications, in your case, with your heart troubles, I think you should take SS as soon as you reach full SS retirement age. You may beat the system and live much longer than 78 as you know about the issues but that is not something on which I would gamble.
My view on expressions in coding was to always use parenthesis. Complicated or simple. It did not matter. Using parenthesis always made the intent clear and with IDEs and color coding it was easy to spot the matching parenthesis.
I also tended to break apart complicated expressions and use temporary variables. It was easier for me and anyone following me through the code.
Similar to parenthesis, a good modern compiler will optimize out the temporary variables and inline small functions used in the expression under certain conditions.
Awake. Moving. It’s sunny and clear, but only 38F. That’s gonna be pretty chilly out there…
Glad to be back. The backup sites are backup, and I haven’t done anything with them, except park the names. It was long enough ago that I couldn’t remember how to edit the parked page…. and on my lappy I don’t have my saved passwords and accounts. That is something I will take the time to do this week. and maybe install wordpress on one of the sites so I can easily post an update.
my e m a i l is flandrey at aol . com…. but normally I only check every couple of days.
——————
Cinnamon rolls are ready! Coffee is almost ready. Time to start the day.
n
Not to be macabre or any such implications, in your case, with your heart troubles, I think you should take SS as soon as you reach full SS retirement age. You may beat the system and live much longer than 78 as you know about the issues but that is not something on which I would gamble.
Yes, that is my current plan. Who knows what things will change in the next two years ?
My wife’s two grandmothers lived to be 86 and 94. So, we need to plan on her living to at least 90.
Plus the kicker we have is our disabled daughter.
I think such a change would be far into the future. People in their 40’s who have planned on SS as part, or all, of their retirement would be adversely affected. If such a change were to be made it would be effective with people just entering the work force, say 18 years old moving forward.
Even though my house is paid for, I get the majority of my income from SS. To take that away just because I own a house would put me in dire straits (I Want My MTV) as I don’t get my money for nothing nor are my kicks for free.
The means testing will extend to owning more than one house and significantly on the amount of money in banking and investment accounts. Even the level of those accounts would have to be significant. For example, I don’t see any reason for congress critters to draw SS as most have made themselves multi-millionaires using *cough, cough* their salary. Trump, Musk, Hillary, Obama, Biden, etc. certainly don’t need or deserve any SS money.
And that is a very real problem. Everyone’s situation is different regarding SS. My original plans were to work until 70 and then draw the maximum. That is until my best friend, two months older than I, died at 65. He never got to enjoy retirement. That had a marked influence on my decision to retire when I had Medicare, live off savings until I turned 66, then draw SS. I don’t figure to live past 85-87 anyway as that seems to be the demise years in my genetic heritage. The good part is that the VA will now pay 100% of the cost of a nursing home which is a significant chunk of change each month.
“First Photo Of USS Truman Carrier Shows Extensive Damage After Collision With Tanker”
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/first-photo-uss-truman-carrier-shows-extensive-damage-after-collision-tanker
Sigh.
I think such a change would be far into the future. People in their 40’s who have planned on SS as part, or all, of their retirement would be adversely affected. If such a change were to be made it would be effective with people just entering the work force, say 18 years old moving forward.
When SS is means tested, it will be sudden in response to a national crisis.
If that’s done, it would go better (less poorly?) with a name change. Instead of Social Security, rename it RISI (Retirement Income Security Insurance) because people are used to paying premiums that don’t necessarily get a return.
If that’s done, it would go better (less poorly?) with a name change. Instead of Social Security, rename it RISI (Retirement Income Security Insurance) because people are used to paying premiums that don’t necessarily get a return.
So, you want to make the concept of Social Security risible?
1. amusing, comic, comical, funny, laughable, mirthful, risible — (arousing or provoking laughter; “an amusing film with a steady stream of pranks and pratfalls”; “an amusing fellow”; “a comic hat”; “a comical look of surprise”; “funny stories that made everybody laugh”; “a very funny writer”; “it would have been laughable if it hadn’t hurt so much”; “a mirthful experience”; “risible courtroom antics”)
I’ll see myself out.
Social Security is not guaranteed., only the taxes The payments and dollar amounts are totally at the discretion of Congress.
My advice is to take SS as soon as you are fully vested. Get the extra money in your pocket ASAP. Enjoy it as long as you can. It is your money. Whatever jobs you have, you should have started a retirement income plan first thing. Find a great investment counselor. Don’t rely on a jobs retirement plan unless you fully control it and can transport it to a new job.
A consideration for youngsters here: I sat down with my financial counselor a couple of days ago. Most people (ie PLTs) thought the tRump Presidency would send the market crashing with all the tariff announcements. My investments popped, so I asked my investments guy what I should do. He recommended I put a chunk in an annuity with a guareteed return. I asked why and he told me the number one return on investment since I started in 1980 was a whole life insurance policy. Wow, that is everything I thought was wrong. People who went with a good whole life policy around 1980 are sitting better than me today. Throw in a grain of salt, but with SS, MilSpec pension, and an income annuity, I’m not going to be suffering. I can also take out 10%/year without a penalty if I want. There is also a nice chunk still in a regular IRA that will grow and I can take in a dire emergency.
Also:
”There’s been only one Captain America! There’s only ever gonna be one Captain America” “Steve Rodgers.” I’m sorry, but Amish Captain American can suck it! Same with Amish Nick Fury.
The actor tagged for the “new” blade, Mahershala Ali, is relegated to a bit part in the new Jurassic Park movie. He can thank Disney/Marvel for that.
The probability of a “Blade” movie getting made without Wesley Snipes right now is zero.
The fans would accept a passing of the torch, but not a reboot.
The latest Bobiverse book:
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Till-Are-Lost-Bobiverse/dp/1680683586/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3C41HK3T6VB2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FvjOSQIvhkFSrViNgQfF6A.EXdfGtVV-dGkiWvh9eNEWROKnlXyDbiwMFIOfEnccr4&dib_tag=se&keywords=1680683586&qid=1739744812&s=books&sprefix=1680683586%2Cstripbooks%2C835&sr=1-1&tag=ttgnet-20
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury was fine until the Brie era started with“Captain Marvel”.
The character jumped the proverbial shark in “Secret Invasion”.
Over The Hedge: Gummies
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2025/02/16
If that is what gummies do to you, I am not interested. Even if my arthritis is killing me today.
Missed you guys.
The problem with means testing is that it penalizes people who don’t pizzle away every cent they make plus whatever they can borrow or steal.
Cheeseburgers, yum.
Did some yard work since it was cool and wet. No dust, no leaf mold and debris… Got a lot of the sort of raised beds raked out. Edged and blew the leaves all around the front of the house.
Now I’m full of dinner and need to lay around for a bit…
n
WRT windows in the garage door, at the BOL I added some frosted window vinyl to cover the windows. Light still comes in but you can’t really see in. It was cheap and easy. As a bonus, the patterned frost reads as white from outside, better matching with the white painted door. The plain glass read as black and looked kinda foreboding. It wasn’t obvious until I saw it with the white frost. I prefer the look with the whole door white.
n
Man, the Moon is hanging so low and huge in the sky that it looks like it is going to auger in.
I’m eligible to retire next year at 55through my employers plan, with a ½% reduction for every month earlier than 60.
retiring at 60 gives me 63% of average high 5 consecutive.
I started paying into Social Security at 14, and though I was a State employee for a few years, I have more than enough quarters contributing the minimum to SS to qualify to receive benefits. Early SS is 62 for me, full is 67.
Current plan is to work into the January following my 60th. When I retire I’ll go on a new health plan with my deductible resetting to zero. My original plan was retire the month following 60, which would e set me to zero on my deductible in the final quarter of the year. Nope.
As far as SS, I’m not counting on it being around. If it is, great. Best plan for us is live on our investments and pension, and not draw SS until 67.
I love my work. There was a time I couldn’t imagine retiring. Now I can imagine it pretty well. I’m ready to throw myself into hobbies and volunteer work and getting 8 hours of sleep sometimes.
I hear you. I love teaching, and I fancy I’m pretty good at it. Still, I’ve taught pretty much the same courses for way too many years. As retirement approaches, I am really looking forward to doing other things. I have some “other things” on the back burner, warming up. Teaching at the local trade school – completely different level, different needs. Being a kind of “math evangelist” for local primary and secondary schools, in particular, supporting the talented students.
We’ll see…