Mushy

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

There is nothing quite as terrifying — and remember this is coming from a person who has to defeat a baseline fear of driving to drive at all — as pushing your brake pedals and it goes mushy on you. And maybe it has some effect but it’s not what you expect.

As some of you know I’m not a trusting person. Born under one form of socialism, raised under another. Why would I be? Precisely?

So I’m more or less always sniffing the wind, looking for signs, because the economic numbers are not reliable and no, no one trusts what the Talking Mop — oh, pardon me, the Lesbian Talking Mop, so much more important — says. And the idea we should all be happy for Bidenomics is hilarious. If you like dark comedy.

I read the economy as farmers read the weather, and most of it is unconscious or subconscious. “Well, my left knee feels creaky, there will be snow.” Kind of.

I used to keep an eye on want ads, and craigslist ads. I have not been keeping track of the new thing which seems to be Facebook Market Place, and heaven knows I never go to the neighborhood sites, because I have axes, and knowing the crazy my neighbors show might tempt me to use them. (Well, in Colorado there were days. No, I didn’t go there, either, but Dan read me some posts. Like the person who was very upset the horse farmer was shooting cute little prairie dogs. Don’t GET ME STARTED. I can start myself up.)

But I still keep an eye on things. People coming to the door offering to do things for money. (No. Take your mind out of the gutter. I mean chop wood or rake leaves or stuff.) Grocery stores, and what’s selling and what isn’t. Prices. Car prices. Gas prices. Shortages on shelves (seem to be regional and mostly (MOSTLY) not here, though for the love of BOB what happened to chicken? It used to be a whole section. Is the bird flu back?) That sort of thing.

I’m also keeping an eye on — duh — book sales, because of course, well, it’s my job, you know? But others. I have a lot of friends who are specialized craftsmen and–

Anyway, y’all will pardon me, but right now? There’s a storm incoming, and also a mudflow, a blazing forest fire, a flood, and a drought. All at the same time.

The gates of chaos have opened, and my G-d have mercy on our souls.

Let me explain. Nothing makes sense. Nothing. But when I think about it: really think, the word that comes up is “mushy.”

The people in power — let’s remember these mondo-intellects read AOC’s Green New Deal and weren’t alarmed by her line about finding Native Americans to tell us how to take care of the environment. She might be stupid. I don’t think she’s below average, just maleducated. But what is their excuse for that not setting off bells in their minds? — really thought by reversing all of Trump’s policies, from the border invasion stopping, to the throttling down on fossil fuel would usher in utopia. No, they really did. Oh, there are a few malicious ones in there, but most of them are just…. dumb. And maleducated. And economics isn’t taught. And economics is a b*tch. It has no mercy.

I mean, I can almost see it from their perspective. If you had Marx crammed down your throat as a young critter you would too. See, they’re getting cheap labor in. CHEAP. So, it will cause a flowering of the economy, right? (What? Second order effects? Culture? Competence? Wassthat? People are widgets. Also, shut up.) Also, if they stop those greedy greedsters in oil and coal from profiteering and subsidize green energy, everyone will spend less, and have so much more money. And the Earth will be so clean and beautiful. Also– But what’s the point? You know? Even DEI will unleash a marvelous pool of talent we’ve been suppressing because raciss capitalists.

As Ronald Reagan of blessed memory put it: It’s not that they’re ignorant. It’s that they know so many things that just AIN’T so.

Now it’s not working, and they’re running around doing random stuff which they don’t actually understand. Most of which amounts to doubling down, because if it doesn’t work, do it harder. And after all, they have the “experts” on their side.

What they’re actually doing….

I’ll admit I worried slightly at my fund raiser. Not actually horribly, because I make sure to tell you it’s not need. (I mean, it’s not. We survived with no fundraising for years.) And I expect I’ll make most of it by next July, because a lot of people are on subscription. (And yes, I need to do chapters. The health edition of annus horriblis has been special these last few months, but I’m almost human again.) But still. The feel was “Uh… I wonder why…”

And then I started tracking people doing actual in-need fundraisers, the kind that are somewhat low, and used to fund overnight before. Most are hitting half to three quarters and …. sticking. And heck, my donations to others have been halved. Not that we WANT to halve them, but because, well…. everything costs more. We’re not hurting mind, but I hate the feel of hemorrhaging money that anything — anything — brings on. From little things — like heck inflation is only 10% or even 30% she mutters, shopping for Thanksgiving — to big — I’ll paint the back porch, rather than pay the price of a car for someone to do it — to…. everything. I hate the feeling I’m bleeding out money; the feeling that “well, we’ve budgeted x, but now it costs x + y + your left big toe.) So, discretionary spending is way down. (Except I bought a lot of sweaters, and I wonder if that’s psychological.) And donations are discretionary spending.

I’ve tracked this effect elsewhere, and it tracks to my behavior. I still buy ebooks — mostly ebooks, because kindle is easier to read and I haven’t dragged my *ss to the eye doctor in almost two years. Yeah, I know. No, it’s not money, it’s time and getting myself in gear — and I keep up my KU subscription, because, well, d*mn good value for the price. But my reading is more escapist than it has been, and sometimes downright silly. Because I feel like one more serious emotion, and I will pop. I actually bought more music recently — CD because I’m paranoid and we have an external CD/dvr for ripping — than in many years, mostly because…. small pleasures, cheap for the money.

Small pleasures. Friends in discretionary spending fields are all reporting back (I know 10 or twenty people, across the gamut) small/cheap/fun is selling. Particularly in gift giving season. I think people want to give stuff for Christmas, but are looking for value for the buck. Give three small things that are fun, as opposed to one big one that they can’t afford.

What’s worrying me is that this is mirroring in people way above us in the economic scale. People who, in other years, would be buying designer/expensive/stuff we could never afford. There’s that feel, you know?

I’ll confess I’m running sales/keeping my books in KU (though it makes money, but not as much as it used to) mostly so I can allow other people the escape, too. I think it’s needed. Right now.

Stuff in the grocery stores is bizarrely …. weird. Other than the aforementioned lack of chicken. Particularly whole chicken. (I buy them when I find them, because they’re great for Sunday dinner with the kids. Pop it in the oven, and it cooks itself. Throw some veggies in the last half hour, to roast together, in the juices.) I’m told it’s not the same other places, but other places have weirder/other lacks.

But the really weird stuff is the expensive, high end stuff being discounted, consistently, every week for lack of selling.

Look, in every recession I’ve lived through, including the Obama Summers of Recovery, there’s a group of people who aren’t touched. Let’s call them the Champagne and Caviar set. You know exactly what I mean. The rest of us are shifting from Dannon to store brand, but the exquisite little yogurts, in glass containers, imported from France, are still not getting discounted for lack of sale. Or cheaper and cheaper cuts are selling better, but hey, the people who can afford the huge-*ss briskets are still buying.

Now, this is a small fraction, and you can tell the store orders it very carefully, because the market is small. But I’ve never seen a recession where week after week, obviously smaller and smaller sets of this level stuff is selling at rock bottom prices before it expires. It’s…. uh…. interesting.

And it mirrors with big-ticket items not really moving. I mean, they still move, but not like they did.

Now we’re in the middle of almost-somewhere in a medium town, so it might be different. But the reports I get…. aren’t.

All those movies tanking? Well, guys, listen: even if they’re very very good, I don’t think we have room in the budget for more than maybe four a year. I don’t know about other people, though. (And they’re not very good.)

My view is limited. I don’t know how concerts are doing, for instance, and for that matter what age is targeted in those. (Makes a difference.) And I know cons, even the non-woke ones aren’t doing so well. Hotels seem to be surviving, but they’ve also doubled in price. (Keeping in mind we got them always on discount, since our vacations are flexible.) Rental cares are older and higher mileage.

There’s… other stuff? Stupid stuff. The picture is…. weird.

I know tech is in trouble, but only because, pour des raisons connues, we know a lot of people in tech (and in writing) and the number of them looking for work right now is higher than ever. Also, there seems to be nothing out there. It seems to be harder to find a job in tech than to find someone to clean my gutters. (Yes, I know there are signs by the side of the road. And yet, you call and they ghost you. Same way there are signs for tech workers/ads but no one is getting jobs. Certainly not fast.)

All we can tell is things are going wrong and going wrong fast. I know shipping is…. not. And it’s bad when gas demand falls enough the prices fall?

But–

I mean, what in the name of Ned are people doing publishing articles about seeing a crisis in commercial real estate coming? Good Lord. I can see that from the moon. Have seen it for three years. It worries me that the experts still find this WORTH WRITING. What is actually wrong with them? It was obvious from the moment they proved telecommuting is viable.

And of course the importation of an entire medium-sized country of unskilled unacculturated, often incapable of working at anything, sometimes criminal people has consequences. That type of people-movement is on an epic scale, and– Why are the experts suddenly realizing they can’t feed them/house them/keep them warm in winter. Not even with all our considerable resources? This stuff should be obvious. Eyes on your face obvious. Are the “experts” and the policy makers — lefty though they are — really that stupid? Did none of them ever try to imagine the scale of the thing? Did not a single one of them, EVER organized a weekend event for 300 people (say) and realize what scaling up numbers does to the “needful” to have on hand?

Then there’s our so called monetary policy. I have hair I would like to not tear out by the handfuls, so I’ll just say it’s as stupid as asking people who happen to have Amerindian blood how to care for “the environment.”

I have no idea what’s coming. I just have a really, really, really — do we need another really? Sure. Have it. — bad feeling. No, worse than that.

I feel like all my indicators, even those that still seem relatively healthy — entertainment; cheap entertainment — are ‘mushy’. Like pushing on the brakes, and they’re mushy. Like, the things you’d expect to work, mostly aren’t.

But worse, it’s the sheer unpredictability in the middle of the utter predictability. Like, I know that commercial real estate is in trouble. But where is that knock going to hit? How far will the ripples go? And what are the social/cultural effects of that? And why in heaven’s name are some things suddenly, sometimes for the first time ever, doing well? Granted, small scale things.

And when you hit transportation with a hammer, what happens to other things? And what about all the stupid anti fossil fuel laws in states that freeze solid? Europe survived those, but the weather in Europe, except some extreme places, is not as extreme as here. What if the mild winter they predicted isn’t? (Bet you it isn’t. I track volcanism.)

Mushy. All the indicators are mushy. And somewhere off screen, in the back of my mind, there is a siren howling, and I can’t shut it off.

What happens when people who were taught only lies do stuff that forces the economy to fall apart, even while catastrophic change is rewiring it?

I don’t know. Neither do you. More horrifyingly, neither does anyone else.

Throw into this that every specialized field — things we actually need, like oh food production transport, engineering — is in trouble because they either can’t find people to do what’s needed, (because they treat people so badly that they run away) or people have been so maleducated they can’t function, even as the generation 10 years older than I retires or die or because regulations force the field to not work at all, in any meaningful sense.

Add the institutional memory retiring, or running to unemployment to evade DIE.

Some of us can take one tiny portion, one we know well, and work the signals out, and see what’s happening. It’s rarely good. Sometimes it’s not catastrophic.

But the whole thing? I think that no one is seeing the whole thing. Even without the falsification of numbers and statistics, it would be daunting. With it?

Mushy. The whole thing feels mushy. Like wood that’s rotted underneath its impeccable coat of paint.

Prepare, prepare, prepare.

And keep your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

320 thoughts on “Mushy”

  2. “There’s a storm incoming, and also a mudflow, a blazing forest fire, a flood, and a drought. ” Esqueceu-se do tsunami. (Não me culpe. É o Bing)

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  3. I’ve been seeing odd, brief absences on the store shelves off and on for a couple of years now – ever since the Covidiocy took hold. There was one crazy week where the local HEB had staff guarding each end of the canned goods aisle to ensure that shoppers didn’t walk off with more than just a few.

    But the empty spaces on the grocery shelves are erratic, and … odd.

    I do check in with the local Next Door app … and I am seeing a lot more complaints and notifications about porch piracy, thieving from unlocked automobiles, things like tires, catalytic converters and the backup camera/tail light assembly for high-end pickup trucks being stolen right out of owner’s driveways. A lot of people in my neighborhood have cameras, Ring and otherwise – to monitor their yards now.

    My daughter, who ranges all over San Antonio as a realtor, says that third-world driving habits are epidemic, now. Every once in a while, there is a horrific crash on a back-country road in South Texas caused by a human smuggler with a car/truck full of illegals.

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      1. Starting in 2020, but getting worse. There’s an intersection I have to go through every weekday morning that NO ONE will turn left when the arrow goes green. Everyone hesitates, because so many people blow through the red at 45-60 MPH. I’m seeing more odd driving as well. Stop at red light, then zoom through between cross traffic. Left turn from the outside right turn lane, and the reverse. Just bad car behavior has gone up, the little rudenesses that irk everyone.

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        1. We never, ever jump a green (or push a yellow for the same reason). Taught our son the same, teaching him to drive 20 years ago. I’ve even flipped off behind me honkers after I waited my 2 seconds after a light turned green to proceed only to break because someone blew through an obvious red light. Even 2 second pause isn’t enough sometimes. Mom’s last accident hit this threshold. Wish I could say this is new driving behavior, it isn’t.

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            1. 100%

              There is nowhere I want to be that makes me rush if I am driving. Will be late over not getting there at all. (Been there. Done that. I was not rushing. Just unfortunate application of tires, road, spring rain dump, and oil on the road, physics. Okay, inexperienced driver might have been part of the problem. When spinning if thinking “don’t hit the breaks”? It is too late. Lesson learned. I was 19.)

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        2. My first trip to Medford in ’03 was eye-opening. I was used to Cali-f’n-ornia drivers*, but there’s a special kind of crazy in the west of Oregon (something about the I-5 corridor).

          Not great in Flyover Falls and the county either. The 4 lane street near my mail drop had a hit-n-run accident in an area with few turnoffs. The road from $TINY_TOWN to F-Falls has the carcass of two SUVs. One I know was a fatal, and it landed on private property. It’s up to the land owner to deal with it. The other (serious rollover, don’t know about casualties, but I’d call out clergy if I were responding to it…) is just inside the National Forest boundary, at a road maintained by the county. The first has been there about 6 months (somebody got the tires) and the second, a few weeks. No idea who (if anybody) is going to remove it. Somebody tried to maneuver the wreckage; hope they didn’t kill themselves doing it.

          Where I-80 is taken as the speed limit. Spooky when going downhill off the Sierras.

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          1. I-5 is a roller coaster south of the Yoncolla exit, starting with Scott’s Valley. One of the reasons that, if at all possible, truckers take the climb out of the valley via hwy 58, to head south on hwy 97, even though it is a two lane highway, and not a 4 lane freeway. Not only that the down slope on 97 through to Weed, where it joins up to I-5 again, is a lot less peril than the Siskiyou summit, curves, and down slope, either north or south. Then there are the canyons to navigate. South of Canyonville. Canyon north of Yoncolla between there and Curtin. The canyon between Curtin and Cottage Grove, aren’t particularly safe either. Better with the realignments than they were, but still not good. Freeway, but only two lanes for each side.

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            1. We used to take 97 to Weed a lot when we’d visit (late) MIL. The I-5 stretch from Weed to Redding is very interesting. (Have I mentioned that I hate “interesting”?) The bridge at Turntable Bay is spooky. When we moved here, I did one load of shop stuff with a Budget rental truck. Thought my ass would have eaten the stuffing out of the driver’s seat at that point. Big truck, lots of sail area, unknown wind situation. 97 was a relief.

              OTOH, we avoid taking 97 into F-Falls whenever possible. Two lane, very busy, and the occasional rock slide into the northbound lanes from Hogback mountain make for a fairly fraught drive. OTOH, the stretch further north seems to get the most two-vehicle crashes. Our neighbor took a job with ODOT, and he had to drive to Chemult for his work. That stretch gets the most snow (there’s a bit of a pass through the Cascades at that point), and the long, narrowish straights seem to attract lots of fools, usually those on 4 wheels. Car vs car or car vs semi, way too common. He bailed after a year.

              My normal route to town has its dangers, but usually not so many caused by other drivers. Depends on the phase of the moon and time of day. I loathe driving at night nowadays, though 3PM on a Friday can be interesting, especially when it’s payday.

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              1. (Have I mentioned that I hate “interesting”?)
                ………………….

                I can relate.

                The I-5 stretch from Weed to Redding is very interesting. The bridge at Turntable Bay is spooky.
                ……………….

                Honestly? I’ve never actually driven it. Hubby does the driving. Of coarse we were normally taking the truck and trailer so taking those sections very cautiously.

                Very familiar with the I-5 canyons between Eugene and Yoncolla exit. Because grandparents lived in Drain until their deaths in 2006. Plus the annual trek to the family graveyard just north of Yoncolla (although truthfully generally go through Drain and take Eagle road, old-99 to the graveyard turn off. Now marked, again, with new highway historical reader board. Or is supposed to be.)

                The roller coaster passes on I-5 are known because of extended family reunions in Grantspass.

                The Canyonville canyon is infamous because of the problems pioneers had going through it after coming over the Applegate trail as the alternative route to the Columbia River (what part of “do not attempt if reaching after fall rains start” don’t people understand? Oh wait. You mean people haven’t changed over the last almost 200 years? Don’t answer that.) Such a bad route that I-5 follows the original blazed trail. Of coarse it is the only route through that section (unless look closely, it is difficult to see that I-5 is through the canyon is mostly one large section of bridges through a narrow canyon before going up over a pass out of the canyon). Still dangerous.

                occasional rock slide into the northbound lanes from Hogback mountain make for a fairly fraught drive.
                …………..

                Sounds like sections of coastal hwy 101. How many times is it “can’t get from Florence to Newport with out traveling inland to hwy 99, and then back to the coast?” Either (usually) a slide down over the road (at least clearance is possible), or the road sloughing away (much bigger problem).

                Chemult for his work
                ………….

                Hubby had a chance to work along hwy 97 at a couple of the mill sites (I think Chemult). He declined. He had to substitute more than a few times (one of the few east side certified scalers). He only drove (from 58) hwy on Monday mornings and Friday evenings.

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    2. Ditto! Ever since the supply chain interruptions during the WuFlu Foolishness, I keep an eye on the availability of my “canary staples” at various stores. WTF is going on with blackeyed peas and pineapple juice? Did I miss the memo for a secret longevity recipe?

      Same with the uptick in auto-related thievery reported on NextDoor. But I do have some nagging questions: How dumb do you have to be to leave stuff like laptop computers, cameras, or guns in a car (sometimes unlocked) out on the street overnight? And doesn’t anyone put their car in a locked garage any more? “Oh, but my garage is full of stuff I’m storing.” “Really? $200 worth of yard-sale crap is more important than that $50,000 new truck in the driveway? Really?” That dumb.

      While I don’t like “blaming the victim,” there’s an epidemic of carelessnesss and self-indulgence that comes close to inviting our sketchier neighbors to steal everything not nailed down. And the neighbors keep getting sketchier and sketchier.

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      1. We used to live in a high-trust society. Crimes like that used to be rare because they were investigated, the criminals arrested and thrown in jail. Now looting, assault, rape and murder are barely investigated, so ‘minor property crimes’ are pretty much below the horizon.

        I don’t think we’re actually seeing a lot more criminals; mostly we’re just seeing a lot more of the same criminals. Before Defunding the Police, crooks would commit a few crimes, get arrested and thrown in jail. Now, though, they commit a few hundred crimes and are still out on the street. Most people are still not ‘taking advantage of the opportunity’ to be scum.

        This is how a civilization falls apart, people. Starting with ‘the little things’. “It’s just petty crime! We have bigger issues to deal with! Trans-Phobia! Racism! MAGA Republicans! REEEEEEE!!”
        ———————————
        If you call 9-1-1 and tell them that somebody with a gun is breaking into your house, they will send two cops in 10 or 15 minutes. If you tell them that somebody is breaking into your house and YOU have a gun, they will send 10 or 15 cops in two minutes.

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        2. “We used to live in a high-trust society. Crimes like that used to be rare because they were investigated, the criminals arrested and thrown in jail.”
          WHEN? No, seriously, when?
          1995, someone broke our truck window parked on the street and took something from the front seat. I don’t even remember what. We don’t leave money or such in the truck. So, it was…. a book or something.
          The window (They broke all of them) breaking was vandalism and cost us far more. They’d done that to EVERY car parked on the street. Colorado Springs, not a huge or crime-ridden town. they told us to cold-report on the phone. Nothing was ever done to the perpetrators. “It’s just kids, having fun.”
          Yeah, insurance paid, but you know that’s nto “free.”
          So, again, I ask WHEN?

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          1. You have to go back a lot further than the ’90s; try the middle ’60s. Even then it wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot better than the ’90s and way better than today, at least in most urban and high-density suburban areas.

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            1. Mid sixties, I was in Portugal. And learning to read and talk.
              Look, here’s the thing: I’m grandma age. If high trust society was that far back? Most people don’t remember it
              BUT let’s be real. high trust compared to WHAT?
              Because we’re still super high trust compared to Portugal even in the 60s

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              1. Agreed; I’m older than that, and it’s a fading memory for me. And yes, we’re high-trust compared to almost everywhere else, especially in rural and low-density suburban areas, which haven’t changed that much. And I believe that at one time parts of western Europe were relatively high-trust (I’m thinking of Scandinavia and Switzerland, maybe others), but I suspect that’s now mostly gone due to the massive influx of barbarian “refugees”.

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                    1. Too young for that stuff. I turned 14, late ’70s.

                      An aside rant note. What is the deal with WP when I hit the posting “reply”. I already “subscribe” and, based on the bar at the top, checked in to WP. Dang it. WP – Quit improving things. Dang it.

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                  2. I was in the Corps from ’63-67. I remember most of the events/facts, but not necessarily the zeitgeist of the non-military (aside from the riots).

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                    1. Okay. Younger than Bob. C. (by 10+ years), older than Sarah.

                      Most of ’63, I was 6 and in 1st grade, 2nd grade fall ’63. (Late fall birthday.) Biggest news at our house was the new house, built that year, moved in just before Christmas. And the new puppy (beagle – Snoopy naturally).

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          2. We lived briefly in an apartment with one job move where I learned to leave my pickup unlocked so they did not have to break my window again to see if I had something to steal. The insult when they did break in was they did not take anything including any of my great 70s rock CDs that they obviously went through.

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            1. We’ve had our vehicles ransacked a couple of times. Usually when I left the door unlocked (not done normally). Lost total of about 30 CD’s, cost maybe $10 because they were MP3 home burned (so just cost of CD’s). A good Gore Tex jacket (dang, I liked that jacket, especially the color), not that it’d fit now, but still. Cost then, was about $80 (not now). Well under the home insurance $500 deductible. Contents of vehicles are not cover by your vehicle insurance, not even comprehensive, covered by home owner or renter insurance. Not sure what happens when contents are destroyed with accidents that are another drivers fault. Learned this lesson when BIL and sister’s vehicle was stolen stripped (vehicle and contents). Their loss, besides the vehicle, was well over $500 deductible (his golf clubs were in the trunk).

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      2. I live in a suburb where they can’t fit the $75K (closer to real price) new truck in the garage. Houses built in 1980 don’t have tall enough garages, for real.

        Haven’t had car theft on our street. Someone did lose their catalytic converter, though.

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        2. Our garage isn’t for storage. It also isn’t wide enough for two vehicles, let alone the 3 we have in the household. We don’t have a truck now, but while garage is tall enough for even today’s 4×4’s, it isn’t long enough for xcab long box, let alone crew cab long box. At least we have enough driveways to not park them on the street. Plus a very noisy dog (she’s small but her bark alarm is mighty). My mom doesn’t even have that. The house only has a covered carport (’60s house). More than a few houses being hit in town, that don’t even have that (street parking only). That doesn’t count the house converted apartments.

          Getting worse. Just passed a city law that developers do not have to provide off street or street parking for new developments (state allows, and greater Portland already has this). The whole “force people into public transportation” crap push.

          Worse sometime ago the whole urban growth area is allowed infill with multi housing lots. Up to 4-plexes on previously single housing lots (new or rebuild). And people wonder why our mail boxes are being inundated with “we want to buy your house”. Even getting queries for mom’s house mailed to our address, addressed to me, and some to each of my sisters (she’s not dead year, idiots). Figure this is because the correct form is filed with the county that sisters & I automatically inherit on her death. Upsets mom. But she isn’t the only one getting these notices. Might be the reason why property costs are not dropping even though selling is taking longer.

          I would have voted no on both but city and while we are in the urban growth boundary we are not city and don’t get a say. (Have I mentioned our $2200 county VS $7k city property tax differential?)

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          1. “Just passed a city law that developers do not have to provide off street or street parking for new developments (state allows, and greater Portland already has this).”

            Oooh. That’s nasty. Especially since the bus system, well-designed though it is, is not a substitute for being able to get everywhere in just the urban areas, let alone the more rural parts.

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            1. No kidding. Our public system is county. While there are routes up the McKenzie to Blue River, up the Willamette Pass to Oakridge, and to the coast in Florence, as well as Cottage Grove, and Junction City, I sure wouldn’t want to use the system. Heck the only time I used the system was to take the park & ride downtown to catch the UofO bus. Parking on campus was worse.

              When Bethel proposed doing what 4J did to the HS students we were among the parents protesting commenting against it, and this was before kid was out of grade school. Our eastern section meant at least one transfer for our HS students to use the system. Just getting the bus from our house to that transfer station was an 1/2 hour ride (a whole 3 miles). That doesn’t count the wait for the correct bus, then the time to ride that bus to the HS, another 5 miles. Still no guaranty he’d be able to take his golf clubs on the bus (couldn’t on school bus).

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              1. After using public transportation here in San Antonio, I’m firmly convinced that every city needs an ordinance requiring every elected official and municipal executive to commute to work on the bus at least one weekday every week of the year. In the software world, this is called “making the programmers eat their own dog food.”

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                1. In the software world, this is called “making the programmers eat their own dog food.”
                  …………….

                  If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times “I write software! I don’t use it!” Am dang good about figuring out what someone has done so their reports are “incorrect”. But if I’m forced to actually input data? Kill me now. Seriously. I can run the calculations to ensure the software is running them correctly. I can run the reports. I can look at the preliminary posting reports to see what is happening and why VS what the client is telling me it “should be doing” (sometimes they were even right). But input? Oh, hell no. Having to support software OTOH taught many lessons. If I had to continually repeat answer the same or similar question, either it got changed, so that went away, or I wrote “How to and why” documents. Last job I didn’t usually have the clout for the former, so a lot more of the latter. (Guys, the “why” part was appreciated as much or more than the “how”. Just FYI.)

                  I hated answering the same question repeatably. It was amazing how often someone would call with a stump question. Get it figure out. Then the next week have the same question come up from other clients. Of coarse with the latter clients I was obviously brilliant because had not only an immediate answer but “let me send you the document on it, call if you need help walking through it”, and done. I mean I was brilliant for solving the original client’s question, but speed makes one super brilliant.

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            1. We’re not in Portland Metro (4 nieces are, 2 rent). We’re in Eugene Metro, but not incorporated Eugene. So taxes are pure county (and various district like school). Difference between mom’s property taxes and ours is the school district. 4J has slightly higher per 1k taxed value. What I found interesting is neither nieces knew exactly what their taxes were, just their property taxes were because the pay through their mortgage. Also their home insurance. They were told “that is the way it works”. Told them “maybe with that mortgage company. We don’t. We pay both directly.” We give the mortgage company the proof we have home insurance. The property taxes are none of their business, unless we fail to pay them. Lane County (state?) has a 3% discount if paid in full Nov. 15 when due. Thus let me rephrase our annual property tax. $2200 is what I paid. $2266 is what they “billed”. Taxable assessed house value of $235k (ish). Honestly this is what would “kill” us financially if we sold and bought/built the taxable assessed value would be full value. If we bought existing, older home, then not (selling in Oregon does not reset the taxable value) depending on what we bought. But new? OMG.

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      3. “And doesn’t anyone put their car in a locked garage any more?”

        You have to have a garage for that to be an option. Frequently not an option in older neighborhoods. Or newer neighborhoods with lots of shiny new apartment buildings.

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        1. Folks in apartments have my sympathy. Folks with nothing but a carport, no so much, since that was a obvious shortcoming to the dwelling. The folks who give me the pip are the ones whining “But my new truck is too tall to fit into the garage.” WHAT? You don’t own a frickin’ tape measure? You didn’t think to compare the heights, truck vs garage door, before you obligated yourself to paying $50,000+ for a big-butt pickup? Truckhead pride goeth before a fall.

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          1. Well, if they took off the roof light rack that makes the lights from Close Encounters of the Third Kind look like a kid’s toy flashlight, they might fit.

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              1. /laugh
                See, that’s the difference between me and those truckheads. I buy a truck to do a specific set of tasks, not to compensate for the lack of size of personal body parts.

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          2. My garage is my shop. And Storage. Also it was built in 51, so my unlifted F350 with lumber rack absolutely will not fit, and Herself’s minivan barely did (before table saw, jointer, bandsaw, etc…)

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            1. Clearly, you’ve outgrown the house. I know the feeling, on a much smaller scale, and have to “edit” my garage and 140-square foot workshop to keep life manageable. In more prosperous days, we’d build a bigger garage, extend the workshop, or even move to a larger house. Not sure when days like that will return.

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              1. I bought the last affordable house in the town. Or at least that’s what it feels like. And it’s the first house that’s actually mine, despite the theoretical rent I pay the gubmint. And with a 2.5 interest on that 30yr, I ain’t moving anytime soon.

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                1. with a 2.5 interest on that 30yr, I ain’t moving anytime soon.
                  ……………..

                  No kidding. You aren’t the only one. Not unless people are forced to. Guarantied.

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                  1. A 2.5% interest mortgage? That sounds like financial heaven. Bought my current house with a 7% loan, refinanced down to 5%, and used the difference to help pay off the loan 5 years ahead of time, with lots of scrimping. ‘Cause 0% beats everything!

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          3. Mom & Dad’s house. That was the mid-century ’60s design. Oh small garage. But not meant for parking a car in it (garage door won’t open now, after 60 years). It’s not like the area deals with snow (thus the flat roof, too), much (and yes, the ’69 48′ dump was a bit of an unpleasant surprise).

            Our garage? Technically it was suppose to be a two car garage. Even without the stairs for the add-on over the garage, barely two cars fit, if people were really skinny getting in and out (which we aren’t). Our desired house plan has not only a 3 car garage, but wide enough that can get in and out of both sides of each car without banging the one next to it, and long enough to store stuff in the garage that need to be in the garage (and I’m not talking garage sale stuff, we don’t do garage sales, that goes to Salvation Army or Goodwill). But we aren’t getting our desired house plan anytime soon, or ever.

            Liked by 1 person

          4. My next-door neighbor is actually in construction, so needs the larger vehicle. His garage is equipment storage.

            He also replaced our mutual fence line for the cost of materials, long enough ago that our end was only $500. Saying, “I don’t know how to do this” while making a fence that’s better than most of the “professional” ones in our area, heh.

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      4. My full-sized pickup won’t fit in a circa 1950 garage unless I knock out the center posts and let all the air out of the truck tires. But no, I don’t leave anything in the truck, especially over night. And I park against the house.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Third-world driving? Florida since the 1980s.

      Last I was there, only P.I.P. insurance was required. Only a fool drives Florida without “uninsured motorist” coverage.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. thank heavens we had it. When we got nailed by someone who spoke no English and thought red lights were optional earlier this year, it was 6k to fix the car. And note, we’re nowhere near FL

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        1. Red lights are optional, “I can beat the red light”, or I can jump time the green to nano second, is epidemic locally.

          I think I’ve stated more than once that we absolutely do not push yellows (beat the red light), we do not anticipate greens, we make dang sure the light that turned red approaching traffic is slowing down to stop. More than a few times watched a car coming and thought “He is not stopping, and I can’t beat him on the turn or forward”. Got honked at. Still waited. I was not wrong. Ironically the worse honker probably would have been the one nailed. I might (might) have made it. Honker right behind me would have been nailed, hard. As it was “idiot” proclamation uttered (which driver issued against is debatable) and nothing happened.

          Even with the above attitude the accidents still happen. We’ve just been lucky. Mom got hit 6 years ago. She couldn’t even see the oncoming car (dark and foggy), when her protected turn green arrow came on. Oncoming driver just saw his directional green arrow and not his go through red light. Totaled mom’s new (to her) small SUV. Payment paid off her loan. She needed another new (to her) car. (Also why we have dash cameras, 24/7.)

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      2. Liability vehicle insurance is required to own and drive a vehicle in Oregon. Financing requires uninsured motorists insurance. Why the latter? Well out of state drivers. Then there are the vehicle owners, who get insurance to register vehicles (or buy) then cancel the insurance. If caught without it, either ticket, or accident, then SHTF legally, at fault or not, but that helps the other vehicle owners when the uninsured are at fault not at all. Vehicle insurance isn’t inexpensive. Ours is running close to $2k/year (2 vehicles, same type) and we are getting multiple discounts (including no tickets, no accidents, in forever, and OMG stratospheric credit ratings; large crack windshield claims OTOH, we had 3 in 18 months). Our son’s car insurance is just as bad, but only one vehicle (never had a ticket, accident, or any claim, has excellent but thin credit rating, discounts, but no multi-policy discounts); his car is a 2020 Hyundai Veloster, stick ($32k sports car).

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  5. I stayed overlong at the parent’s house and had to drive back through Denver in the dark. Never again. There are no traffic cops. No law enforcement whatsoever. Motorcycles careened by going at least a hundred, weaving in and out of the I-25 traffic. Cars and trucks were going at least 70 if they could. It isn’t just that cops aren’t giving tickets out anymore — it’s that people know there is no law anymore, and they’re acting accordingly.

    I feel the mushiness too. It’s terrifying.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Not no traffic laws anywhere. I-5 traffic is flowing probably faster than it should be, when possible (especially through the traffic sludge known as Portland) and rarely see patrols pull anyone over (it happens, just really rare). Not even when obvious racing is happening. (As in traffic is at 70+ MPH and two cars come out of nowhere from behind like the traffic is standing still.) Let’s not discuss speeds on freeways and regular two lane highways, in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, etc. (there is no speeding limit). Washington state, OTOH still has their highway patrol that rotates the major byways (freeway and highway). A person can get two to three tickets within 10 to 20 miles if they are very unlucky. Then there is back east. Sister & BIL took a driving trip from Oregon through Yellowstone and Cody Wyoming up to Niagara Falls, down through DC, some Civil War National Monuments, then angled west via route 66 before heading NW back home. BIL managed, not one, but two speeding tickets. One actual pull over. The other via camera and showed up in the mail.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. When I drove back east to visit family, I paid extra diligence on speeds when I crossed the Mississippi into Illinois. I think I saw a half dozen state troopers in 10-20 miles on I-80, all writing tickets.

        Kansas was worse in the 80s. Haven’t been that way in 40 years now.

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        1. Way back, probably around 2005 or so, I was amazed on my drive to Huntsville, AL when I saw multiple sign warning of speed enforcement ahead. They tell people in advance? Then I saw a huge row of patrol vehicles in the median. Not just a handful, but at least a couple dozen. It was like something from the movies it seemed so over the top. I had set my cruise to the limit at the first sign. Despite the warnings (multiple), despite the OBVIOUS huge collection of patrol vehicles, there were STILL some blowing through or trying to… and, of course, getting caught. It was like it wasn’t even a speeding ticket anymore. By that time, it was a Stupidity Ticket.

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          2. multiple sign warning of speed enforcement ahead. They tell people in advance? Then I saw a huge row of patrol vehicles in the median. Not just a handful, but at least a couple dozen.
            …………….

            What Washington state’s roving safety patrol does. I think only 6 cars per roving patrol not a dozen. Still same concept. Been doing this for decades. Wasn’t new when we move to Longview, late ’70s. First news report heard when looking for housing was how one driver got speeding 3 tickets in less than an hour by the patrol. Get stopped. In the clear, right? Oh. No. That is the point. Got stopped again. Just bad luck? Right? Nope. Speculation in letter to editor (back then) if third state trooper warned that the 4th stop could happen and meant a trip to jail, or not. Washington state makes good revenue off doing this. Does not let jurisdictions do the saturation patrols, but the state can.

            Oregon, at least the freeways, and the highways (outside of town jurisdictions), the state slapped down hard on revenue percentage of operating budgets non-state jurisdictions can accumulate from traffic fines. Rest of the balances from traffic fines have to go to the state. Yes, result wasn’t what the state had figured on. Non-state jurisdictions just quit issuing traffic fines outside their core jurisdiction. Gone is any speed traps on I-5, except for Salem, maybe. North of Salem traffic speed tends to regulate itself. A lot of I-5 parking lots. Ditto on the state highways. Mostly regulated to responding to accidents. People can get pulled over on traffic stops. But the odds have decreased astronomically over the last 15 – 20 years.

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      2. We need to torch the interstate ticket reciprocity laws in this country. You’re allowed to plead guilty and send in the fine, but you’re not allowed to plead innocent remotely.

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  6. All I know is I’m having to balance trying to work enough to cover rent, and yet not so much I get sick again, because doctor and antibiotic expensive. (And just trying to get enough hours to pay rent is exhausting, because the schedule is done by a mad computer and “oh bleep someone called out/quit, who can we call in who hasn’t used up hours yet?”)

    And it’s not so easy to not get sick, because I work by a door that swooshes open every time someone goes through and ATM the air is freezing. Add allergies and sensitive inner ear and… yeah.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Heh. They keep trying to come up with new projects for DIEB at work. I tell them what it will take, and that there’s significant costs associated with them, and that I don’t recommend them because the hospital is tens of millions in the hole and obviously can’t afford them since they’re laying off, or cutting hours of essential personnel (like me, who’d have to implement the craziness.)

      Liked by 1 person

          1. It’s also a kind of “proof of concept” that you can make money with 3D printers. I think 3D printing is likely to be part of what enables us to maintain a certain level of technology while avoiding centralization. Moving back to more dispersed and smaller human communities.

            Liked by 1 person

  8. The commissary still has, “sorry, we’re having supply issues,” signs with no particular rhyme or reason. I see some small gaps at other stores, too. When we got home our fellow church members told us theft from mailboxes is up. One oddity: mail delivery has gotten a lot later. Are they having to assign longer routes? Don’t know.

    I do know the number of local food bank clients has gone up noticeably. It had fallen, in part (perhaps) because our food bank does vet the clients to be sure they’re truly in need. There have been charities just handing out food willy-nilly. Have they been cleaned out? I don’t know. I’m curious to see how busy we are next week, when we start distributing the Christmas boxes. The administrators have been cutting the number of box sets the last couple of years because there were leftovers but this year I wonder.

    The sheer, organized anti-Jew hatred makes me very upset. I’ve been saying for years we’re having waves of hysteria and sooner or later a wave will get violent. I mean, really violent. Another reason I want to stay out of big cities.

    And there’s the ongoing worry we’ll see a major terrorist attack at one of the big football games. Or the idiotic, stupid, juvenile, adolescent crap-fights going on between the Republican candidates’ “influencers” will drive me the rest of the way to distraction. Or, of course, the long knives finally come out and we lose one or more major figures to violence. People mutter about recreating 1968, but we haven’t had the assassinations yet. Thank G*d.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. WRT mail, the people at the mail drop I use say they are seeing a lot of new people doing deliveries. I’ve noticed that Amazon is using the postal disservice for last leg deliveries a lot nowadays, considerably more than a few years ago.

      The USPS tried to close the main PO in Flyover Falls (during Obummer’s term), but was barred by law. However, they dropped mail sort from that office in favor of Medford. I’ve had a couple of bills get delivered not-quite too late, and dropped one magazine subscription because issues not appearing started becoming a too-frequent occurrence.

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      1. UPS uses USPS for last-leg, too– which I could only tell on my side because they email me updates and some list as delivered for last leg at the local post office.

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      2. I seem to vaguely remember that Amazon and UPS have some sort of sweetheart deal with the USPS, which is why they use it for last leg.. Trump might have even been complaining about it (and been attacked for doing so, of course), though I don’t remember for sure.

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  9. Things around here (Fargo) have been much more expensive. Beef has been so expensive that I’ve considered going vegan, because even the chicken is outrageous. Heck, the discount meat section is more expensive than the regularly priced meat was this summer. Eating out? Movies? Forget about it. We simply can’t afford the $70+ for the three of us.
    The upcoming shipping crisis scares me. The changes in manufacturing, education, and now AI, are going to play hedouble hockey sticks. I think it’s going to be a decade or more before things shake out, and that assumes sanity returns to our politicians and business leaders.

    Liked by 2 people

    2. I was buying ground beef today. Ground pork costs less than the top two tiers of ground beef, as dollar/lb more than mid-grade ground beef, and $1.50 more than the really cheap ground beef. (This was at National Chain supermarket, not the regional or at my usual meat market.)

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Costco wild salmon is less per pound than Costco beef steak. Costco 12% hamburger is $5.29/#. Sirloin steak is $9 to $10/# depending on level. The “good steaks” we prefer are an allergic cost of $23 to $28/#. We haven’t had the last since 2020 when the costs were $12/#.

          Hadn’t thought about it. Not seeing a lack of chicken in the meat departments. But not seeing whole chicken either. Costco has their loss leader ($4.99) Roisterer Chicken, which flies out of the location as they come out of the oven (seriously, there apparently been words between customers about it, and complaints to store management).

          Liked by 2 people

          1. My last trip to Costco (in July), $SPOUSE asked for 4 Costco birds. I asked the cashier on duty at the U-check-it, and she said OK. I’ll be going in March, and will look at the situation. We’ll really want the 4 birds (local roasted chicken is $10.99 for normal sized birds vs $5 for the dwarf emus huge chickens that Costco gets), but I’ll consider getting a couple, stashing them in the cooler, and going back for two more.

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            1. Never seen Eugene Costco have a limit. Saw people take 4 birds at once. It is just more than once, I’ve seen them fly (it is that fast) out as fast as employees can get them out of the oven, into containers, covers on, and placed in the warmer for customers to take. Also seen the warmer full. “It depends” applies. $4.99 for the dwarf emus oversized chickens, is a huge bargain. Not very much left over after last night’s chicken (I get home and put the still warm bird in the oven on warm until we have dinner) so either just a smaller one for once, or they are suddenly smaller. I do not make chicken stock out of it (probably should learn and get the equipment, but storage is an issue too).

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          2. One local Costco store could not keep rotisserie chickens in stock, and there would be lines. When they put in a new one, it had double the cook space and now you can get a chicken on demand. It probably took the stress off the old one too, but the new one is more convenient so I haven’t been back to the old one.

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    3. Protein is brain food. Keep your intake up. Also supports a sustained “satisfied” mood. Nuts can help. But do find the substitute you can, becasue there are long-term reasons why the opposition wants folks protein deprived.

      Hunt or fish if necesary. Do with, not without.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. might be profitable to start raising your own grass fed bovines.
        ……………….

        Wags hand. We’ve done that. Shares on 1/4 one year. Shares on 1/2 pork other years. We’ve stopped doing so. (Mostly because not really worth it for cuts we don’t really want.) We know a hobby farmer who takes pre-orders. Problem is his costs have skyrocketed too. Pay him $/pound, then pay cut/wrap $/pound plus disposal/kill fees. Good cuts are less per pound. But hamburger is higher per pound. But I am comparing to Costco meat per pound costs. Costco does not lose money on meat (excepting the chicken they roast) but they don’t make money either.

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        2. We’re buying hamburger from the Chef’store. (US Foods) A frozen 5 pound chub of 93% lean is running about $5 a pound. $SPOUSE will make patties, and I’ll grill them pretty rare, and they’re frozen. Nuke the thawed patties long enough to finish the cooking and it works.

          They have fresh hamburger with higher fat quantities. I don’t buy fresh, so don’t know prices. OTOH, I think you can go to the web site and get current prices. I’ll go to our local store every week or two for various things. FWIW: https://www.chefstore.com/

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          1. Costco is running $5.29/pound hamburger now for 88%. Up $2 over the last 3 years. 93% is running $8.99/pound at Fred Meyers.

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      2. $SPOUSE and I don’t eat enough beef to make it worth our while, but the guy who owns the mini-ranch (80 acres) next door did it last year with 3 cows. (My private names for them: Chuck, Round, and Flank). He kept one, and two other neighbors got one each. (A couple and a single lady went in with her cousin.)

        This year they did 6 cattle. The land is non-irrigated and medium lousy, but one of the people in the deal has a riverside property with lots-o-grass. No names for them this time.

        Not sure if they are using the dial-a-butcher or the retired cafe owner. The latter does game butchering. (One of my neighbors got a decent sized buck this year, and I got a few venison steaks. Hmm, tasty!)

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  10. I dunno exactly the mechanics of it but the internet is rotten. Our nuke friend’s employer and the owners of the local hospital group (and however many other hospitals) getting seperately hacked . . . Internet is like a punky log over rapids, go on, cross the log.

    Good time to double check you’ve swapped alt coms with your friends, and by that I don’t mean phone numbers or Discord handles.

    Liked by 3 people

  11. Like the person who was very upset the horse farmer was shooting cute little prairie dogs. 

    You mean the ones that carry bubonic plague? And yes, dig nice little tripping holes for your valuable livestock to step into and break their legs?

    I love those little guys. Best targets ever for plinking. They set themselves up, move around in interesting ways, and the crows clean up after for you.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I have a coworker that is horrified that we were having the trees trimmed and a dead one removed before winter. I didn’t bother let her know what happens to the tree rats with the fancy tails.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Removing dead limbs and dead trees is a safety issue. Back in 2019, we had high winds blow limbs off an old silver maple, right onto our house. The broken window was the obvious damage, but the damage to the roof was actually far more serious, thanks to structural deficits in the original construction. Thankfully we have good insurance.

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        2. 2017 ice storm was the kicker for us. Hit our two urban Giant Sequoias hard. Very hard. Got lucky in that none of the very large and heavy limbs actually came down on the roof. First one did come down onto the yard and bounce back onto the gutters, which shook the house, but just dent in gutter. We had pile of limbs 10′ deep, which the insurance did pay for clean up and disposal (which we did). But insurance would not pay to send someone up the tree to pull loose but not down or barely hanging limbs. OTOH we asked the wrong question. We tried to get them taken down as danger trees. No go. Not cheap to get rid of them and they needed to go. Luckily in front yard so better than if they’d been in the backyard. Next tree that had to go was the Burch. Luckily that one hubby could still handle. Took some grief from further out neighbors. Immediate neighbors agreed with us. But once we expounded on the loose and barely hanging on heavy limbs, the damaged multiple tops in each tree, the rot found in the trunks, plus last, the cars that parked there dropping and picking up their grade school kids, they shut up. At least we didn’t have to fight the city to take them down. While in the urban growth boundary, we are still county, city had no say.

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            1. Even with our reputation, the Willamette valley gets hot and dry (although not as hot as S.Or) in the summer. Very little rain. So in that case it’s better for the Sequoia, than the Coastal Redwood, which is better off in consistently cooler temps.

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            2. Not naturally, no. Won’t propagate naturally either. No matter how many cones the trees put out, and the squirrels drop on roads, sidewalks, and other semi hard surfaces (including vehicles – ask how I know). However, they grow great if planted. 45 – 50 years old. Planted by a developer throughout southern Willamette valley in the developments he was involved in. Ours were in the front yard. OMG if you have them in your backyard and have to have them removed.

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              1. I’m suddenly wondering if the trees in SiL’s yard are sequoias. I’ve never seen young ones, so I’ll have to go poke at the bark. (Right near you, off of River Loop.)

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                1. Definitely possibility. If it has needles like Douglas Fir then could be Redwood. If scaled compound leaves like cedar, then could be Giant Sequoia.

                  Off River Loop? Definitely near me. We are west, just east of Hyacinth, barely. Street runs between Hyacinth and Stark. Irving Elementary and Blackfoot/Hyacinth for cross reference.

                  What is the cross street?

                  Liked by 1 person

          2. I took out a swath of trees along the drive/powerlines to the house this summer that was about 200′ long and 50′ off the drive. Got about 3 cords of firewood out of that work. That was the most egregious ones. Still have about 200 more feet that can probably wait until next summer.

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      2. My neighbor had his beater SUV crushed by about a ton of deadfall rotted “Mighty Oak” treelimb dropping through the roof into the driver seat. Anyone in it would have been pizza.

        There was a torrent of tree-trimming after that. Go figure.

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        1. Son refused to replace the 2004 Elantra he was driving until the Sequoia’s were gone. Had little dimples all over the hood, roof, trunk, and tops of doors. From the hard golf ball sized cones dropping on it the 16 years it was parked out front. Our vehicles in the driveway weren’t in danger. But parking on the east side, in front of the where the trailer was parked, or front of the house, on the street, the vehicle was. Stupid squirrels. (I suspect the pickups we used to park in front of the trailer did too. Just never looked.)

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    3. The city of Pasadena (the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl city) here in LA County recently held a hearing to allow voters to present their opinions on a plan to trap and relocate the coyotes that seem to be everywhere. This, of course, was too much for PETA, who promised to show up and denounce the horrible, evil plan, and try to persuade the council not to do anything to the coyotes.

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    4. And then there’s the peculiar situation of having a bounty on the state animal. I’m not sure if that’s still true of Minnesota, but it was the case once upon a time.

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    5. Shoot the things? Sir we -explode- the dang things. Pop goes the weasel. Here. Watch. ….. BAM!

      (Kzin grin)

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  12. At our local Whole Foods Market, they’ve been having bare shelves of essentials and similar items. A lot more of their own store brands vs. the “luxury” brands. And a lot more yellow (i.e. sales) tags.

    Our local meth-head, after six months of being an ass finally got everything cleared out of his house and it’s up on the market. It’s going to need quite a bit of work (he was a home contractor and…clearly he wasn’t making money doing that from competence), and it’s on the market for about $595K. We’re still having almost lines of cars that are driving by and doing tours to check it out.

    Entertainment…I’m pretty much not watching anything these days. Why give any numbers to even hate-watch the rape of classic franchises? I’ve been stocking up on my DVD collection. And reading far too much manga for my piece of mind.

    (And why not get stuff on Kindle from Amazon? The algorithm is convinced that I am either wanting extremely crappy space opera that insults my intelligence, hot yaoi and/or hateful femdom porn, and/or feminist “best seller” books. Despite trying to ratio them into oblivion. I’m having to search manually and I’m still getting at least 2-3 of The Books That Shall Not Be Named.

    (In one book series…all three at the same time…)

    Someone suggested that every major franchise or “institutional” product from the 20th Century is having massive issues. When you go to McDonalds and a $5 might get you a burger and a small soda (but no fries), there’s a problem. When Disney can release an animated movie on Thanksgiving and have it come in third place, there’s a problem. When the comic book industry sales are so bad that creators for the Big Five comic book companies are having to have monthly Go-Fund-Mes to pay their bills, there’s a problem.

    I’m not going to claim conspiracy, because these people aren’t competent enough to tie their own shoes, let alone actually get something like that done, but it has that feel to it.

    I know that I’m putting more away in savings, in cash, and when the house remodel gets done I’m going to start stocking up on more essential items. Figure out how to close out my storage unit (to save the monthly fees). And more time at the gym before work.

    And more writing. A lot more writing…

    Liked by 3 people

            1. I like that thought, but lets let the liberals/Marxists burn their own cities down, by my guessing they’re about half way there now.

              Liked by 1 person

          3. I too have been dealing with the annoying attention of the Reaper.

            I had to realize that as I age, so are my “average” acquanintances. Thus they get more Grim Visits. My alternative appears to be as somone else’s bad day.

            All I can do is try to focus on helping the next cohort achieve a Liberty they can too pass on. Sooner or later, we all will reach The End. No offense, but I plan on outliving as many others as I can. If only to spite some folks who have expressed a strong desire to whizz on my grave. But that does mean I am going to bury dang near everyone I currently know.

            Faith has answers for this. But is Faith, not Avoidance. Late to this table, but glad I found it finally.

            Meanwhile, I continue to channel the “stubborn smart-ass” that has seen me through calamity after calamity.

            Liked by 1 person

    2. I downloaded the entirety of the Gutenberg Project.

      Now to work on some scripts to correct some formatting, then load certain works on to the tablet as PDF’s.

      Liked by 2 people

    3. On a tangent, I’ve recently discovers Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The anime is really good, and I gather the manga is as well.

      The premise is it’s following the elf who who was part of the party who defeated the great demon king, and kind of a combination of what do you do after the big bad is gone and exactly what it would really be like for a nearly immortal being to deal with people with much shorter lives. Bittersweet, but really good.

      Liked by 3 people

        1. Yeah, and I was mentioning somewhere else it is dark without being edgy. Frieren sort of reminds me in certain ways of that lady my brother knew, who apparently had been in some branch of special forces. She was friendly and sociable and otherwise normal, but anyone who knew what she had actually done was also more than a tiny bit terrified of her. Frieren is sort of the magic nerd version of that.

          Like

    4. The best description I’ve heard about the Disney movie is “truth in advertising—it’s a Disney movie from Wish.”

      There have been a lot of breakdowns about what is wrong with the film, from shortened development process (three months for story instead of six months to a year!), using low-tier pop song writers instead of, you know, people who understand what musical theater does, to excessive forced callbacks to every famous Disney property, to incomprehensible magic “rules”, to the least understandable descent into villainy… yeah, there’s a lot going on there. One reviewer even said, “What studio did Encanto? Because I can’t believe that came from the same folk who have been putting out this kind of dreck.”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. What I’ve heard is that the movie puts together some sort of locus point that connects all of the Disney properties, and they’re only connected through that locus point.

        This has come to public attention because it pretty much flips the bird toward the wildly popular Kingdom Hearts video games made by Square-Enix.

        Like

    5. Yep, same here. Stocked up on my preferred midcentury “gothic costume dramas” last year, then went on a bender and bought 2008 Sense and Sensibility, 1980 and 1995 Pride and Prejudices, 1982 and 1999 Scarlet Pimpernels, and Pimpernel Smith.

      Liked by 2 people

  13. You’re not imagining things. Things are bad, very bad. What’s hiding that fact is 7 companies in the S&P 500 and the fact that, manipulated or not, employment is a long lagging indicator. Once that cracks, and it’s very creaky manipulated or not, it won’t be hidden anymore.

    That’s the US. The rest of the world is even worse. Did I mention that dollar denominated Chinese corporate bonds have lost 90% of their value or that Chinese bank’s are upping their non-performing assets to the maximum allowed under Chinese law, or that the pace of capital, and human, flight out of China is accelerating? I suspect you’ll find that China is the nexus for a lot of the supply issues.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. When the ChiCom fraud collapses, it will have global imapct. But at least the Chinese will finally have a chance at something resembling a free society. They may bog it the way the Russians did, but at least its a chance.

      Watch for teh CCP outright extorting support payments, to hold off the looming wreck. “You dont -really- want your markets to die with us, right? So just…” It will mostly be looted, so the West-Soviet propup wont work there.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. The news keeps reporting record-high spending. I know this because I have to listen to one of the local news channels every day while at work. However, there’s no mention of how this compares to rate of inflation, so…

      There’s also insistence that we’re going to narrowly avoid a recession. snort

      Like

  14. Our only truly good conventions were the first two of the year. From then on it’s been a slip-slide downward. Shows that usually go well barely broke even. One flopped hard, and I was very glad of the face-saving excuse of having another, much larger, convention the same weekend next year. And three weeks later, that convention returned poorly (bare break-even at best). Now that we’ve pivoted to online, eBay sales are *dead*.

    Seconded on the rising porch piracy and petty theft from vehicles. It’s pretty much constant on my NextDoor feed too.

    And the feeling of sick dread? Part of me is making plans for how I can stay productive instead of spinning my wheels like I did in 2020, and the rest is all “let’s just get this over with.”

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Sarah did the cover for my latest – and it’s magnificent!
        (Thanks, Sarah!) I don’t know how well it will sell, because it’s about an energetic spinster who is an abolitionist before the ACW and a nurse in the war, and there is very little romance … but if it sells on account of the cover, I will not cry buckets.

        Liked by 3 people

        1. I’m planning on buying it sometime in January or February. I have 5 grandkids to buy Christmas presents for and 4 of the five have birthdays between Thanksgiving and mid-January.

          Liked by 1 person

    2. Seconded on the rising porch piracy and petty theft from vehicles. It’s pretty much constant on my NextDoor feed too.

      …………………

      Same here in Eugene. Brazen. High percentage of Nextdoor posts include security camera footage. The thieves do not care. Alarms typically run them off. But the fact the cameras are there? Forget it. Worse for the community, even police officers, state, county, and city, homes are being hit. Wish all this was new. What is new is people are getting videoed doing it.

      Another alarming trend beyond the theft videos are the wildlife videos. I mean we know there are cougars and black bears in the nearby hills. Even trespassing into the urban developed areas that have trespassed into the wildlife corridors and territories. But now we have proof. Video proof. Including the Willamette Greenways, parks, and neighboring neighborhoods. But when Nextdoor posts video of coyotes two one corner lot intersection over, and the responses are “nothing new, nothing to see here”, it is “what the heck?” We’ve been here 35 years this last Thanksgiving weekend!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I’m retired, but that is a story in itself. Programs running short of money, and a choice between a retirement incentive and the potential for unemployment. But with my skill set, and the wars picking up, I should be able to get work…and can’t. At least not at the Subject Matter Expert level that I rate.

    But it’s time to think on offense, not defense. The old Chinese ideogram for “crisis” was a combination of “opportunity” and “risk”. Time to start figuring out how to take advantage of the opportunity.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. The old Chinese ideogram for “crisis” was a combination of “opportunity” and “risk”.

      (DIdn’t get the format toolbar this time so…maybe the tag will work?)

      In medicine, it was explained to me, a “crisis” is a potential turning point, where the patient may either deteriorate and die or start improving and recover.

      Liked by 2 people

  16. Reference “They believe it!”, have a friend who got really pissed at me pointing out Saint Greta is a mentally-troubled kid being used for political purposes, because “At least she’s doing something!” Apparently said type kids being used that way is just fine because the defenders can say “Well, something is being done!”Also, for pointing out one fact and two opinions she accused me of using ad hominem argument. Which rather pissed me off.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. They never seem to grasp that ‘something being done’ needs to be ‘something that has a positive effect on the problem(s) it claims to address’. It’s the difference between ‘effort’ and ‘work’, except for the deliberate mendacity from the left.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Thank the usual suspect (Marx) for that conflation of “work” (or “effort”) and “desirable results”. Of course, both were mysteries to him.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Burning and looting is “doing something,” too. BlueAnons continually confuse “action” and “progress” with “improvement.” Usually to everyone’s detriment.

      Like

      1. I’ve worked around middle managers with that mindset. No real surprise, I guess… :-(

        “Look busy!”, to a tech running a 24-hour automated test program requiring continuous monitoring on a radar system, wasn’t uncommon; every time the engineering staff (usually me, for my sins) straightened out one idiot another showed up. :-x

        Like

  17. I think I’m glad I live in Japan. Economically things seem to be fine and pretty much the same as the pre-wuflu norm. With the addition of hordes of foreign tourists because Japan is now a relatively cheap destination. Yes the fact that the words cheap and Japan can be used in the same sentence is mindblowing for anyone who’s been paying attention since the mid 1980s but it is true. Japan has had less inflation and for reasons related to that the yen has depreciated significantly against other major currencies in the last couple of years so prices in Japan for foreigners are like prices 5 years ago in their home countries.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. If Japan doesnt start producing very much more kids, you are going to need a bugout plan within 15 years.

      Like

      1. Remember the chart that notion of a population spiral you can’t pull out was based on, a few weeks back?

        Besides assuming the statistics are accurate, it also applied the “people tend to have families roughly the size of the one they grew up in” notion to the entire population, as an average.

        When it only works individually, since a couple with one child has a much smaller proportion of the next generation’s influence than a couple with three.

        #########

        Something I’ve noticed is switching between total births and various fertility rates– if they’re using the one that is total population, there’s usually been an objective increase, reproductive-age (15-49) females can go in any direction but is very subject to gaming with kids being counted at multiple schools and other stand-ins, and total birth numbers being compared is usually when you can look at the population pyramid and realize “there simply aren’t that many young folks who CAN be parents right here, even if they’re still technically reproductive age.”

        And it’s always a disaster, no matter if someone wants more people or fewer, and one can get evidence by picking stuff carefully. Annoys me to death, because I want to actually KNOW, and finding so much is built on nonsense and estimates….

        Like

        1. That’s interesting. I’m the middle of 5, but Dad was oldest of 3 and Mom oldest of 2. Largest family among us siblings is 3 kids, but we also all started really late, so that had an impact.

          Good news is my Dragonette wants to be both an astrophysicist and a trad wife, so I should have plenty of grandkids to warp, er, spoil.

          Like

          1. It’s also a really noisy bit of data, because the sexual revolution/pushing of birth control/etc introduced a big wrench to the works– a “big family” went from 13 kids, to three-four, and now is going back up again.

            Like

  18. “Now we’re in the middle of almost-somewhere in a medium town, so it might be different. But the reports I get…. aren’t.”

    We’re outside a small town it Texas and it’s not different.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. About the border invasion: with the National Socialist Left salivating over the attack on Israel, it reminded me that for all their big talk about “settler colonialism” and “decolonization”, they’re perfectly okay with illegal immigration. I mean, if it’s somehow a historic crime that my ancestors came here generations ago, what about those guys?

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank Mayorka’s, right before you make him and every male offspring in his family eunuchs. So humanity is never bothered by his faulty genes again.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. At some point, some clever Israeli comedian is going to hit the jackpot with a routine based on “So you are saying we are illegal immigrants? Fine. That makes us your Good Guys you intersectionalist nincompoops. And here we go…”

      Like

  20. I work in a gun shop in East Tennessee. While things have slowed down since the 2020-2022 insanity, sales are still stronger than 2019. Supply has mostly stabilized, but there are still, for example, some calibers of ammunition we don’t get in, and/or are harder to keep in stock.

    Firearm sales numbers across the industry are still breaking pre 2020 records most months. Based on our store and what I’ve heard from other stores around the country, an easy 40% of these purchases are first time gun buyers.

    Draw your own conclusions, but I see this as a net positive.

    Liked by 3 people

    2. The problem with lots of gun purchases (especially new gun owners) is that it’s an indication that these buyers are worried that they’ll need to shoot (or brandish at) some goblin.

      It’s certainly possible that they’re suddenly rights-conscious people exercising their rights for the first time ever just ’cause, or they’ve discovered a new, expensive hobby, but neither is the way I’d bet.

      It’s hard to spin ‘expects an armed confrontation in their future’ as a positive, but ‘more legal gun owners’ does have that look.

      Like

      1. While my S&W isn’t our household first gun, nor the first household purchase. (I’ve been handling guns since I was old enough to sit on dad’s knee and pull the trigger on the hunting rifles. Hubby brought in a hunting rifle into the marriage. We’ve inherited guns through my parents.) The S&W was my first purchase. It is also the only household handgun I can safely handle from loading to unloading (and now I medically know why). I do not expect to be banishing it in self defense. We’ve been (okay, hubby has) carrying concealed for decades (not entirely legally, we can now, all three of us have our Oregon concealed), never had to even show, or make noise with, it to any wildlife, be it two legged or 4.

        An aside. My NICS went through immediately. No delay. Son’s and hubby’s both took months. Once approvals came through had to refill the NICS app, and then put it through, again (no additional charge), with a code. Even then could hear the frustration in the clerk’s voice dealing with the NICS system.

        Locally most ammunition is fully available. Even been on sale off and on. Still gaps on the selves. Getting primers for self loaders can be difficult, however.

        David. A question (don’t laugh too hard, serious question). Any chance of having any 2535 rifle rounds (for an 1894 Winchester)? :-) :-) :-)
        ………………………

        Please remember any above mentioned firearms were tragically lost in our last boating accident. Entire boat sank. Very tragic.

        Like

          1. BIL looks too when he goes to gun shows. Also nada. He wants to shoot it. :-) Actually one up on him in that respect. I have shot it. A number of times. Of coarse it was 55 years ago, great-uncle still owned it, and I was 12. But still …

            We’ve ordered it twice now from location that “carries it”. Order was cancelled by location, both times. Have standing orders for it at BiMart on River Road and W. 18 in Eugene, Junction City, and Bend. I think BIL is looking into the hack for 3030 cartridge adjustments with the 2525 die (if he can find that) for reloading (which is what I think dad did but IDK, and his reloading equipment is long gone).

            Like

        2. MY NCIS when I bought my AR kit a couple years ago took one day longer than it was supposed to to come back and I had to accomplish it. Which is one of the reasons I know there’s still a flag on me in somebody’s federal system, even though I’ve never been arrested or charged with anything.

          Like

          1. Dealership was absolutely shocked when my NCIS took a nano second. Hubby’s does have a reason, his full name is not on his driver’s license. Just his middle initial. Been that way since he got his original permit at 15 and carried on through first license, in CA, then subsequent states OR, WA, and OR, again. Given the current environment, it is a hassle (even taking his passport). Don’t know if having the concealed permit will help or not. Haven’t purchased a firearm since getting one.

            Dealership stated what is happening, at least in Oregon, is the NCIS have been sued for the arbitrary delays, thus the 3 day “rule”. But the 3 day rule does not apply if the application gets stamped “delayed, eyes on required” (I forget the legal technical term used, I think “hold”). Guess what applications are getting stamped with automatically. Dealership also stated that process is legally being challenged too.

            Our experience beyond my automatic approval have been anywhere from an hour to 3+ months, last winter.

            Remember any an all firearms mentioned were lost in the boat accident that sank taking all firearms with it.

            Like

            1. I’m getting the impression that the nickname “Iron Bottom Sound” is being transferred from the SW Pacific to numerous local lakes… :-D

              Like

          1. Yes. Hornaday is the only manufacturer we can find. Pretty sure Ammoseek is who hubby is using to locate who carries it when there is commercial manufacturing done. Don’t remember the online source he’s been ordering from. We found out from BiMart directly that they carry it when it is available. Not that anyone has any in stock available.

            Like

      2. Oh, I doubt the rights issue is the prime driver of those new ower’s purchases. I’m pretty sure they’re feeling the wind blowing that they have a greatly increased risk that needs to poke holes in bad things at a distance.

        Like

        1. Mike Houst,

          You’re probably correct.

          However, fairly frequently, gun owners become gun voters. That’s why the gun-prohibitionists work so hard to put up barriers to entry for getting started with firearms.

          Like

      3. Why, yes. Why not?

        It doesn’t have to be “I’m special, the riffraff should let themselves be murdered,” and even those who weren’t thinking about rights may find it growing on them especially if they go to the range to practice.

        Like

    3. Sigh. Try finding factory loaded .44-40 softpoints. Or even empty brass.

      I have “adequate”, but cannot easily replenish.

      Like

  21. More WPDE changes, I see …

    I had been, a few years ago, looking for precursors to Bad Things Happening.

    I start to see them now.

    Last month or so, I’ve had ‘supply chain problems’ for some of my medications. Honest, this is semi-rural Oregon, and we are out here rather at the ends of the chain, so stuff seems to Run Out before it gets here, sometimes. But this has been more than I am accustomed to seeing.

    Many of you probably have seen the Raiders of the Lost Delivery Trucks videos; one, a gobsmacked Amazon driver watches as the locusts descend on her truck and strip it nearly bare, another where a larger truck is blocked in at an intersection and the Ravening Horde tears the truck apart. My anticipation had been that it would be more internal, as drivers decide it’s more profitable to re-sell their packages for their own benefit, but external thievery works to accomplish the same effect.

    The next big one I expect to see is public utility failures – water, electricity, natural gas reliability diminished. Local (and national) politicians seem to hate natural gas – at least Eugene’s proposed limits for new construction were reversed when Berkeley’s machinations were challenged in CA court. OR seems less tied to so-called renewable electricity supply than Texas, with its 2021 weather worsened grid problems, or CA producers with fires and brownouts.

    Nervous. We’re good for food for a fair bit; water could be a problem should that go wonky (Feb of 2019 there was a big power failure, that shut down the water system here – we had not yet moved up.) If we have gas, we have a whole-house generator and power at the house.

    Liked by 2 people

          1. Sort of. We’re west of I5 and west of 99, and the area is fairly pleasant residential, until it drops off to farms at the cemetery. Still in the city.

            If ever they get built, there’s subdivision maps for maybe another 130 houses up here on the hill. But we’re not quite built out to the 60 in this phase, from 2007, so I think it’ll be a while.

            Over east of I5 is in the woods a bit.

            If a newbie to the area might expound, CG has about 10K people; the only thing resembling an industry is a couple lumber places south of town. Based on the votes recorded for Presidential elections, CG is nearly evenly split D/R, with R getting about 25 more votes than D in 2020, and about the same in 2016.

            Not quite Mayberry, but even the teenagers are polite here.

            Like

            1. I wish. Unfortunately Cottage Grove is too far south. Hubby golfs primarily at Diamond Woods just south of Monroe. We’ve looked at Junction City but, wow, we thought Eugene proper property taxes were bad. Sister’s and niece’s property taxes are each running $7k/year now. Ours and mom’s? $2200/year. Difference? Not Eugene proper for us. Mom’s is slightly more because of 4J VS Bethel. House sq footage. Theirs are bigger per tax rolls. Lot sizes about the same for mom, us, and sister. During tour of homes Junction City realtors were touting that the property taxes were 2% total. Unfortunately we can do the math, without calculators. Also looked at Monroe, but the new lots are postage sized, and not far enough up off the valley floor from the Long Tom (eek, squared).

              Like

              3. Our place cost $2000 for the year. Seems to be going up 5% a year (partly due to infrastructure improvements). That’s Very-Rural Oregon, just east of the Cascades (and east of US 97) from Medford.

                Tough winters, wildland fire in summer, but I still love it.

                Like

              4. We’re 0.21 acres, and 2023 property tax is $4400, based on an assessment that’s under half what we paid to buy and build.

                With no mortgage, not bad at all. Beats the heck out of California.

                Like

                1. Yes. We should have just done it about 10 years ago. Would have been in the same taxable value to actual value percentage. Just taxable value would have been a lot higher than current house. OTOH then we would actually had to, you know, pack up and move (shudder).

                  Have had the plan. Never could figure out where to go. Home’s taxable value is about 55% of current value. Bought it for $78k in late ’88. We do have a mortgage. Called constantly refinancing down the percentage but for another 30 years, plus paying of home equity for two renovations (kitchen 1990) and (mostly) upstairs, new flooring, and new windows, in 2001. No structural changes. Owe just under double what we paid for it at 3.2%. Part of the problem of why we aren’t at 2% or lower. Willing but not for another 30 years which wouldn’t have dropped the monthly payment enough for hubby. Didn’t solve the disagreement then interest rates started climbing. We tend to talk things to death.

                  We didn’t have a huge, or any, profit from our first house. Just what we put into it (we were lucky to have that, dang owl and mountain). Which gave us back our current house 10% down payment.

                  Like

            1. Did you send that?

              I can just imagine walking up a long-ish unpaved drive …
              “Um, Ms Host Mom Name? You don’t know me, but I’m John, and [Sarah’s real name] asked if someone would come by to see how you are are doing …”

              “I have a shotgun pointed at you, and you need to git!”

              “Yes’m. I’ll tell Sarah you’re fine.”

              Like

  22. Dear Reader: If you really don’t like the Bible under any circumstances, please forgive me and skip to the next comment.

    Psalm 16 (English Standard Version)
    A Miktam of David.

    Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
    I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”

    As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.

    The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.

    The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
    The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

    I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
    I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

    Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
    For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
    or let your holy one see corruption.

    You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

    Liked by 2 people

  23. Book sales. My latest release did very well, but slower than usual, and sales have dropped more rapidly than with the last two in that series. I suspect releasing it at the start of “Buy things for others” season plays a role. And I’m staying in KU for the same reason.

    Liked by 3 people

  24. On a complete tangent, I had actually so forgotten the talking mop was a thing, it took me a bit to remember who you were talking about.

    I wonder if they’ve simply stopped giving meaningful press conferences? Or if she’s been so ridiculous that the media has gone full memory hole mode on her?

    Liked by 1 person

  25. One good thing: the game LOTR: Return to Moria is apparently a very fun crafting/survival game. And it has Very Good Songs (from LOTR and the Hobbit, along with folk-style originals, some in the Dwarven language); and you can play it with your friends while having different voice parts for their dwarves, and end up with a dwarven choir.

    Given how cruddy things have been in the entertainment industries, this sort of unnecessary lagniappe is very appreciated.

    The Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken is also scarily popular, and competitively obtained. No fights, just very keen fans waiting for it to come out of the oven.

    You probably know that there was a shooting at the Beavercreek Ohio Walmart, and then there was a march a few days later. But… not about the shooting.

    Nope, it was a tiny wittle pro-Palestine march, from WSU across the pedestrian bridge. I don’t know if it was locals, but I don’t think it was local Muslims (who have been studiously staying the heck out of it, for the most part, I think because the local mosques are Saudi-funded or those Turkish-Russian folks doing their own). Nope, it was mostly white, native US, leftist NPCs, which usually means they’re not even from around here if you check the license plates (but this time, I didn’t have the heart, I was exhausted and only on my lunch break, and also I was afraid I’d go berzerk at them).

    Pretty sure the chick in the middle is BLM in a small way, because I’m sure I’ve seen her before. Given the small numbers, the attendees might actually all have been locals (unusually dim ones).

    https://dayton247now.com/news/local/people-are-marching-for-palestine

    Liked by 1 person

    1. OMG. The tiny wittle crowd actually tried to block business at the local Lockheed Martin office.

      On Black Friday, when you can be pretty sure that nobody was even there, or that there’s only one guy with his feet propped up.

      https://www.whio.com/news/local/witness-this-atrocity-protestors-gather-greene-co-voice-support-palestine/T3C2NOZU3FHTRDPGW6MZGK5YYI/

      And we have the DARVO, with them calling Israel’s counterattack an “atrocity.” Faugh.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s probably why they tried to block it then. Less chance of the company feeling a need to run them off the property, because there’s nothing important to block. And getting run off the property would look embarrassing on camera.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Return to Moria caught my attention. But I’ve been leery of the Epic Game Store, and it’s an exclusive there for the time being…

      Like

  26. So, I’m still working, and there is always work for someone who wants to see patients. What I watch is the ads for jobs in my field. It used to be that to do temp work (which pays REALLY well, and is on your schedule, not holidays if you don’t want) you went to middle of nowhere. Now, I routinely get solicitation to work in major cities. California (which used to never have openings) has lists and stacks of work, in LA and San Fran. Denver is looking, which never had openings. So, who is providing the healthcare, and where is everyone? Lots of ads for telework (which for primary care is just stupid). Exercise and eat right, everyone, there is not going to be a reliable system for long here……

    Liked by 1 person

    2. The Leftroids won’t be happy until they’ve dragged our health care down to the level of British National Health, or Canuckistan’s.

      They still Believe in socialized medicine even as Canadians are crossing the border in droves to pay for American medical treatment instead of their ‘Free! Health Care’.
      ———————————
      Under socialized medicine, each patient incurs expenses which end when the patient dies. In private practice, each patient provides profits which end when the patient dies. Which patient would YOU rather be?

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Hubby broke his back last New Year’s Eve. The whole time in the hospital he had mostly traveling nurses.

      He was in a big regional hospital that services several states.

      When I was there after my stroke in 2017, I didn’t have a single traveling nurse.

      We have friends that live in the city who are familiar with that hospital’s administration and we were told that they fired many staff for refusing the jab.

      Turns out, traveling nurses don’t have to follow hospital rules on that because they are private contractors.

      Like

      1. SIL who lived in San Diego went traveling nurse once the two kids were out of college and doing their own thing. Sold the family home. Traveled.

        Like

  28. Regarding housing locally. I’m seeing what will be a repeat of early ’80s before housing opened again. Locally that means houses are not available to sell, unless people are forced to do so (family deaths, transfers out of the area). What is for sell is taking longer to sell. But prices haven’t dropped. Houses aren’t on the market, not only because of cost to replace, but when current home interest rate is at 3.2% who is replacing that with 9%? Sure our current house interest rate started at 13.5% (now at 3.2%) but on $78k. But now real market value is pushing $600k.

    Like

      1. Neighborhood is mix owned and rented. Really hard to tell which is which. There is a new house that just went up for rent that wasn’t before. Clue was the estate sell (plus business trucks previously parked there). Could be moving owner into assisted living, and they won’t sell. $2295/month per the online listing. Location isn’t ideal. Neighborhood is fine. Just where it is. Right off one of one of the main accesses into the neighborhood. Street parking is legal, just not safe (IMO). What is interesting is it has been available for rent for at least two months. $2295/month, while, ouch, isn’t bad for the local market for a 3 bedroom.

        Like

        1. With any luck, more people will start going back to… what were they called…. “Owner backed mortgages”, I think, which is basically the buyer pays the owner in monthly-rent-sized installments, and then in a few years, if possible, gets their own mortgage from a bank to buy the old owner out.

          I’d call it rent-to-own – because it is – if that didn’t have such a sketchy reputation these days.

          Like

  29. Sarah, in 2008 we got whipsawed by the economy and the housing market and I have been pretty nervous about it ever since (going months without a paycheck while the bank account runs down will do that to a person). My second layoff (this March) convinced me that I was too reliant on a single income from myself (I am the primary income), so I got a part time job at a local grocery chain which I have kept even though I was able to find work again. I got sloppy about relying on my company’s “good graces” (and frankly, a 10% discount on store brands actually makes a difference in this economy).

    You are right to be worried. Yes, it is in the air around us and the signs are starting to become more and more visible even if Our Political And Social Betters (OPASB) whistle past the graveyard. The Plague broke the supply chain system and it has never recovered. In my industry (biopharmaceutical/medical device) we can be 6 to 8 months out on some items for receipt. Even at my part-time job, many store shelves remain fronted even though it has been well over a year since everything opened back up.

    Sadly, we become a consumer/services economy. What happens when the consumer and their purchases and service needs go away?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The ’80s PNW housing market hit us hard. House in timber based local that we couldn’t sell on a bet. Rented it out for 4 years. Finally sold it in ’89. Might have been better experience if we’d turned it over from the beginning to a rental agency. Didn’t. But the experience killed absolutely any thought of dealing with rentals. Between No and Oh Hell No. Even put us off owning, until we had no choice. (We even made out like bandits, on paper. Still – Oh Hell No.)

      We got lucky with the rental we got in Eugene when hubby was transferred to Eugene. Given we had 4 cats and a German Shepard (no human kids), very lucky. Having a very good trained German Shepard sold us to the owners. Put her on a down stay, in front yard, no leash, kids playing in street in front of her, she never moved from her spot while we toured the house and property with the owners. Then we offered to pay to put in the backyard lawn and fence( in the end they paid for the materials, we put them in). Figured the odds of that happening, again, was zip to none, despite the reference. House sold out from under us. Put in an offer, but it was $20k under asking (and what it eventually sold for, but too late by then, offer declined).

      In a lot of ways we are “trapped” in our current not ideal forever home. Oh, we’d make out like bandits selling at current prices. But we’d have to replace at current prices (still have animals). Plus interest rates right now are just too horrible to consider.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Dep729, my sister and I have rolled accidentally into a very small rental management after my parents were no longer able to do it. It is a very easy manage with low involvement, and I still find it stressful. I do not think you could pay me to think about doing this on a larger scale.

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      2. I’m thinking of the house left when our oldest neighbor passed. Her son (who everybody hated, including her) had it listed about 40% above norms for the town and wouldn’t drop for ages. 6 renters in the 14 years(!) it was “on the market”, of which 3 good, 1 tolerable (though it ended up in a drunken shooting, he in hospital, she in jail but misdemeanor at worst. We felt sorry for the hubby she left, who had to clean up the mess), two horrible. (Late/no pay, one did a drug operation and had dangerous dogs & equally dangerous kids, the other never threw out garbage. The chest freezer & garage were biohazard zones…)

        This was administered by a local real estate company (“local”==25 miles away. Almost no eyes-on, ever.)

        The son finally got the last slobs evicted and sold, for about a third of his original asking price. New owners are gems, and have fixed the place up a lot. (The place was originally a cabin, circa 1920, and was turned into a house by 1970. I’m glad I never had to work on a house like that…)

        Like

        1. Not as drastic with house across the street. First 8 years we were here it was a rotating set of owners with bank owned sitting empty for 18 months in between. Finally bought by the neighbor’s, next to it, daughter (she’d just graduated from HS when we moved in) and her husband. They expanded out the back and up, before she sold, after 15 years. Now owned by a couple with 6 kids, ages 11 – 19, between the two of them.

          Then there is grandparents 2.75 acres after they lived in it for 60 years. House was originally a ’30s not insulated 3 bedroom shack with no bathroom. Actually, never insulated, and was obvious. Really don’t know what happened, but it was sold at least 4x’s, and abandoned to over grow, at least 3x’s between 2006 and 2020. Current owners bought the property for $130k (they paid for the ground), gutted the house and “fixed it”. Oh, who are they kidding? County must have winked (it was on the county rolls as “historical”) or when they gutted it, it “fell down” (oops?). Because from pictures, outline looks similar, but they lowered the block foundation at least 10′. Looks nice. FYI. That is exactly what needed to be done.

          I would have loved to have had property for the $100k mom and siblings sold it for. But grandparents creditors insisted it was worth more than that as it was (was staying away from that morass. At least when jackal creditors called mom directly VS estate lawyer could say “elderly abuse”). Creditors lost that argument. Flipper who bought it, sold it for $130k, after putting $40k into it, and that wasn’t nearly enough.

          Mom’s neighboring house had a similar to your story situation, only it wasn’t renters (original owners daughter and her children. Finally the grandson has sole ownership of the house and is slowly gutting and cleaning everything out. His initial cost, and this was 2022, $75k to clear up the title (he was on the title).

          As far as remaining rentals on our street? We’ve been incredibly lucky that it is almost impossible to tell which ones are rentals and which ones are owner owned.

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  30. Something that caught my attention the last time I was at the supermarket…

    I noticed a few random items on a store shelf that didn’t belong in that spot, seemingly placed there by a customer who had decided not to get them but hadn’t wanted to take them back to where the customer bought them. That’s not entirely unusual, so at first I didn’t think anything of it.

    But then I realized that there was no product in the spot that those items were sitting in. It wasn’t that the entire shelf was bare. Most of the shelf still had product. But there was a gap – probably about yard wide – where there simply was no product except for these 3-4 seemingly random items. And because those items were there, it wasn’t obvious that there was a bare spot on the shelf unless you were specifically looking for the product that was supposed to be there.

    Intentional? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. Maybe a customer really did leave them. But it’s a possibility. And it’ll definitely hide some of the product gaps from casual viewers.

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    1. Mentioned it before but Costco has had huge empty shelves high in their upper storage, if one is looking for that tell. Not now, at least in Eugene. But what is still happening is the center seasonal and now in the electronic areas. Used to be solid rows of product mimicking the standard shelving areas. Now they are in blocks, more like the center areas like the clothing tables. Larger spacing and not stacked as high as before, too. It’s not like Costco doesn’t switch around where product is found, they do that a lot, always have. It is how it is being organized now VS before.

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    2. I was at a Dollar Store two days before Thanksgiving and I noticed they still had their Halloween stuff out. Almost a whole aisle of it. That’s weird because Dollar Store doesn’t do markdown sales of past holiday items and who was going to be buying Halloween stuff weeks late?

      So, why was it there? Well to cover up the fact that their seasonal aisles did not have enough Thanksgiving or Christmas product to fill the seasonal space.

      Which means their buyers knew MONTHS ago not to order Christmas and fall items to fill the usual space.

      So this has been building for a good while. But the downturn is just getting a good start. And soon no one will be believing the lies about how great things are.

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      1. The selection of calendars is LOUSY this year. That’s another bad sign. (And I saw my first pop-up calendar store AFTER THANKSGIVING. That’s a third.)

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    3. I used to see the odd misplaced item, which I could attribute to “Timmy! Put that down!” but of late I am seeing what has to be placement with malice aforethought. Color/size matching, but the wrong item. Such as a can of dog food in with the canned beans or such. I’ve seen this often enough that it I cannot dismiss it as random. Now, maybe it’s one “prankster” (ratfink!) and maybe an ex-employee of the store, but… it’s new, at least to me.

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  31. Sarah, the last time you wrote “feeling something bad comes this way” we had hamass in Israel. May God help us all because politicians surely won’t. I am giving cherished items to family (and cash to the younger ones) and friends this Christmas so they can enjoy them as long as possible which I would love to think would be for a long while, but… Thank you for being a voice of sanity in a world that seems determined to act irrationally most of the time. Politicians remind me of Henry Higgins’ line “…straightening up their hair is all they do. Why don’t they straighten up what’s inside?”

    Liked by 2 people

  32. X number of years ago I was offered a very attractive early retirement option; I said “sign the check and don’t stand in the doorway.” While driving home a realtor was contracted for and the For Sale sign was in my front yard before sunset.

    I moved from (location redcted) to (location redacted) within days of the house selling because Location #1 was Not A Good Place To Be When Things Went To Crap. Location #2 is not perfect, but light-years better (“perfect” at this point might be a 2 bedroom bungalow on the dark side of the moon….).

    The intervening years have been dedicated to 1) enjoying life; 2) reading anything and evreything I wanted to but couldn’t because work consumed so much time; 3) gently and continually preparing for that “Things Go To Crap” business I mentioned above. Life got a great deal more simple – I donated a closet-full of suits (kept 3 – 1 for weddings, 1 for funerals and 1 spare), and expenditures have been focused on Those Things Necessary For Life – food, water, rough-use clothing, the means of protecting those, tools, maintenance supplies, etc. The Covid, and post-Covid, supply system disruptions, oddly enough, offered substantial procurement opportunities because the disruption was so great if you knew where to look and whom to contact, deals, though frequently quite odd, were available (having a background in procurement and logistics helped …).

    Maureen Dowd wrote in NYC’s bird cage liner a number of years ago that she thought “the wheels were coming off.” I suspect that phrase meant something very different to her and her group than it does for us, but I believe her prophesy is about to come true; there are too many ragged edges in too many places for “smoothness” to return anytime soon. I am stunned at how much “extremely competent skill base” is being wasted, but it is probably a human thing that we have to periodically go through that to re-learn what everyone siould have already known and understood.

    Those “ragged edges” will tear unpredictably when stressed, so “social stuff” will become very strange for a while; trucking – actually – transportation generally – now in decline, will not recover gently, nor will the manufacturing and distribution infrastructures it supports and which support it; education at all levels will become a smoking crater (it’s been headed that way for at least a couple decades plus and inertia being what it is, there’s – very deservedly – no stopping it) and who knows what, in a general sense, will be fabricated to replace it because All The Wrong People will, somehow, still try to be in charge until they are banished, potentially by force; politics….Hell, who knows what will happen there except initially Nothing Even Slightly Good until Brutal Reality gets applied by those who know how reality works.

    “Keep your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark” is very useful advice. Also useful: “problems resolved at 400 meters are problems one does not have to face at 25 feet” (read that carefully, it has multiple meanings). It’s going to be an adventure; we will endure, we will recover, we will prosper, and a lot of us will have some terrific stories to tell.

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  33. The problem of the leftoid is summed up in the Moron In Chief’s saying “Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore.” Milton never ran the show. Much like Isaac Newton, he observed things and told you A would lead to B,C, and D, depending on other variables. Just because he shuffled off this mortal coil doesn’t mean what he observed and told you would happen will suddenly not happen. Much like the 0bama flunky who replied to a statement about energy policy being impossible because it violated the laws of physics – “We hold both houses, we can change these laws!”their ignorance runs deep, the lust for power runs high, and the damage sucks.
    I am better off than many, no house note or rent, old paid off truck that is in fairly good shape, but a quick run into the grocery store is just nuts.

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  34. Speaking of the expensive things being on sale, the local Safeway had Kerry Gold butter at half price. I don’t think I’ve ever bought it, but I’ve heard it’s amazing for pastry crust, so I bought several pounds and froze it.

    It does make good pastry crust.

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  36. Agree that the brake has gone mushy and the clutch is slipping too! One aspect of the situation that can be missed is that we (America) cover a huge area and are very “American” in how we react to things. I’m in the middle of the mid west (Iowa) and we seem to be stable and productive.

    I get confused at some of the signals – example: Chase bank closed several branches and it made national news (other banks too) yet… A new Chase branch bank got built this year next door to my grocery store and another one was just opened a couple of miles away in the mall/shopping area of town. Around here there is a lot of commercial building going on – huge new bank building for West Bank, several new grocery stores by several companies, major additions to shopping areas with new ‘strip mall’ additions being completed this winter along with several (at least four within a 5 mile radius of me) major / luxury apartments just opening.

    So, maybe it will be more “regional” than expected and some places will be better able to weather the storm while some places will not. Using the porch with rotten wood analogy – there is likely to be some sound timber in there too that can be salvaged for use in rebuilding the porch when the time comes.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The Reader is confused by the signals he sees as well. There is a large amount of residential building going on in his county; both single family homes and apartments. Don’t know how apartment vacancy’s are doing but houses are being sold as fast as they are built. Shelves around here are pretty well stocked. Beef is insanely expensive but chicken and pork are plentiful and not excessive in cost compared to the general inflation rate (25% in the last 2 years). The Reader keeps expecting the bubble to burst but it hasn’t yet.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. There is a large amount of residential building going on in his county; both single family homes and apartments. Don’t know how apartment vacancy’s are doing but houses are being sold as fast as they are built.
        ……………..

        Ditto. At least until recently. Houses prices seem to be starting to stall and staying a little longer on market, but nothing compared to ’80s and ’90s. I expect housing inventory to go down because people like us can’t afford to sell and buy with today’s interest rates, and we’d be able to almost cash purchase.

        Apartment vacancies? Based on what the rental rates are, don’t appear to have a lot of vacancies, or rates would be coming down. OTOH UofO, LCC, and inability of 20 somethings starting out to afford to buy, which means, never enough apartments.

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        1. I’m seeing more and more houses for sale around RedQuarters and in, oh, a 2 mile radius or so. This is NOT house sale season around here, because of the physical proximity of three schools. Granted, these could be houses belonging to older folks who are downsizing or houses that have come out of probate (one I know for certain), but ’tis odd.

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          1. Our street, we’ve been here for 35 years, homes just recently started selling. Every single one that sold, went into probate before selling. A few were “rented” by grandchildren while grandma was move into elderly care, until grandma died and home came out of probate. That is exactly what BIL did with his childhood home. Each of his middle 2 children, who lived in Portland, took turns “renting” (rent, get grub stake for their own down payment) while grandma was in elderly care for altimeters, until she died. Then BIL, and his sister, sold the property (BIL’s sister could afford to buy out BIL out of petty cash, Lake Oswego. None of the grandchildren could afford full price (and didn’t want it). BIL doesn’t live in Portland metro, so he didn’t want it).

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  37. “Mushy. The whole thing feels mushy. Like wood that’s rotted underneath its impeccable coat of paint.”

    Yeah. Like when you’re looking at a house, and you walk up to the big, beautiful white picture window in the living room. And you take your finger and push gently on the mullion on the bottom corner, so nicely coated in white… and it bends under your finger. Like a kitchen sponge. If you push just a tiny bit harder your finger will push right through the paint and into the rot beneath.

    That’s when you know the whole window and frame will have to be replaced. It’s toast.

    So then you go outside and take a hard look at those rain gutters, which are inevitably leaking right onto that picture window. And they painted the !@#% window instead of fixing the rot and the gutters, hoping that you are an idiot.

    Yep. That’s 100% what’s going on in Canada right now. Paint over the rot, hope for a stupid buyer. Ten minutes cruising what’s trending on Twittler will tell you that.

    However there does eventually come a point where all the stupid people have run out of money, and the only buyers left are guys like me who look at the foundation and the rain gutters and the sewer and the electrical box and the plumbing and the furnace, utterly ignoring the nice paint and the big white picture window. We know where the rot is just from driving by.

    I guess we just have to wait for more stupid people to run out of money in the USA. A nice, hearty wave of famine through the blue cities ought to do it.

    Leftist trolls will immediately seize upon this sentiment as being my admission that I hate the poor and the stupid, and want them all to die. That is not the case. All I’m saying is that if you keep voting for the guy who paints over the rot and makes it look nice, eventually that window is going to fall out. Probably during a snowstorm, when it is nice and heavy with water, and Grandma who bough the house because of the nice white paint is going to freeze to death.

    You want Grandma to freeze to death, Lefties? What the hell is wrong with you?

    Liked by 1 person

      2. Up until lately, 2019, there was no question that Canadians voted for this crap. You can tell by the friggin’ lawn signs. But since 2019 lawn signs are not really a thing anymore. Because people are known to come on your lawn to tear down your sign, and maybe vandalize your house while they’re at it.

        If the Liberals win the next election, then we’ll know for sure that the voting machine fix is in. Two more years to wait, I do not see the Shiny Pony calling an election one minute before he has to. He’s laughing these days. He thinks its funny.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Everyone should be troubled by the fact that Smith thinks there’s a point to gathering this information.

        But I’ll note that this is public information. It’s displayed on every post. If you click like or share or dislike, the entire world can see it. Even if Twitter hadn’t been forced to cooperate, the information could have been obtained in another fashion. So don’t click unless you’re willing to let everyone know.

        Liked by 1 person

  40. Shortages on shelves (seem to be regional and mostly (MOSTLY) not here, though for the love of BOB what happened to chicken? It used to be a whole section. Is the bird flu back?

    As it happens, when I was actually reading this, The Big Show on 1040 WHO-AM was talking about exactly that.

    Iowa’s bird flu is such that it’s classified as having not gone away since it showed up in ’22.

    Remember all those anti-cruelty laws they passed for chickens, about no cages and such?

    That knocked out entire states’ small producers, made it harder for small producers to change everything, and when one bird in a big, mixed bar gets bird flu, the whole barn has to be culled.

    Which, as folks I bored five years ago may remember, was WELL KNOWN to be a likely result.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. Unless I’m missing something, PCR is a lab test, and I see nothing in that article regarding specific tests; all it says is “A laboratory test is needed to confirm if a bird is sick with AI.”.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I figured she’d type-od PRC, since the Chinese tests are the ones that were giving coin-flip answers, even off of stuff that couldn’t possibly have COVID and even from the same samples getting different answers.

            The normal type of diagnosis tests weren’t an issue because of the techniques used, they were an issue because the amplification– which I think isn’t the polymerase chain reaction method, and the Tanzania story they never did say anything other than that they were told the papaya and goat had COVID and blamed testing supplies– so the known inaccurate Chinese quick tests, which are not lab tests, is the logical conclusion.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. OK, I can see where the confusion might have come from (damned 3-letter abbreviations…). I assumed it was regarding the amplification problem, where a sufficient number of runs could produce almost any result. And that says that the “labratory tests” could be anything from definitive to useless.

              At this point I’m skeptical of any “official” data, especially when political objectives are involved. :-x

              Liked by 1 person

                1. Let’s see: There was the test you could induce a false positive in with orange soda (very popular after covid lockdowns eased but 1-2 week isolation with pay for a positive test was a thing), and one I recall that had a 50 % chance of a false positive AND a 30% chance of a false negative; I think that was the one China was “donating” and Boris Johnson had to order NHS to stop using it.

                  The whole thing always struck me as a mechanism to inflate WuFlu counts when there were enough “gunshot transmitted WuFlu” cases that they needed a “test” they could use for Science backing.

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  41. Are the “experts” and the policy makers — lefty though they are — really that stupid? Did none of them ever try to imagine the scale of the thing? Did not a single one of them, EVER organized a weekend event for 300 people (say) and realize what scaling up numbers does to the “needful” to have on hand?

    Rhetorical question, I know, but…

    After the massive Parkland astroturfing, we KNOW they have an extensive network of people who can very expertly spin up the structure needed to provide temporary necessities for huge numbers of people, very quickly.

    These same people have to know exactly what kind of strain the flood of illegal immigrants will put on the places where they land en masse — and they don’t care. If they do care, it’s likely to be in an “America sucks and deserves this” kind of way. And if any of them were foolish enough to provide a word of caution, they’re probably no longer part of that extensive network of Correct People Getting Things Done For Correct Causes.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. You and me both. Idaho, Montana, and Utah, freeways. No problem with getting a speeding ticket if I am driving. Impeding traffic ticket OTOH, definite risk (small, just tuck behind one of the suppose to go slower rigs and stay there). The freeways are posted 80 MPH! (Big trucks, and technically RV’s, slower posted.) Regular traffic wasn’t going 80 mph, it was going 90 MPH.

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          1. That happened to the Reader in CA. He was doing 80 (on I-110 if memory serves) in a rental Charger and was passed by a Smart Car as if he were standing still.

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            2. I was thinking more of Dead Man’s Curve:

              Yeah, that stretch of I-80 was surveyed with a straightedge, but still. Maybe the driver was thinking about Springsteen’s “The Promised Land”.

              An Isetta is less survivable than a Smart Car, but they’re both pretty improbable (to me) as a high speed vehicle. (OTOH, I doubt an Isetta could go 90 mph…) For less anachronistic improbable vehicles, the Suzuki Samurai would fit. Saw more of those on their sides in Silicon Valley than any other vehicle.

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      1. I had a ’63 MGB in the early 70s. Did not know that the recommended brake fluid was essential, and if I used the wrong (American generic) fluid, my brakes would eventually fail. Two winters in a row, the stop sign nearest mother’s house (I was on Christmas break from college) was violated.

        After the second failure, I bought my brother’s ’70 Beetle (with its own set of problems, none life threatening) and sold the MGB. The guy I sold it to said it failed every winter for him, too. Sigh. (I’m amazed; that car had more patches and kludges than it ever should…)

        Took a few more years to learn what the problem was. The old Triumph I restored had brake problems, but that was due to age, not contamination. OTOH, that was the second and last British car I owned. (It spent more time in repair than on the road.)

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        1. We had a ’94 Dodge Intrepid. Fancy dark blue color, so that depending on the light the blue morphed into different shades. Mechanically no problems. When stepped on the go petal it said “Let’s go.” Loved that car. The problem? Getting rid of the “hit me sign”. Finally had to say “enough already.” Not one of the accidents was at fault on our side.

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  44. The grocery store that I go to seems to have the same thing with chicken – although you can still get whole ones.

    But the Costco that I shop at biweekly has added an entire case with chicken. IIRC, it’s the one that used to have the expensive seafood occupying it. (Now, that is only at one of three in town; I don’t know what the other two stock. Mine mostly serves middle class people like me, with a smattering of upper middle class; the one in the southwest is heavily oriented to the people coming up from Mexico on a day shopping trip; the one in the northwest is definitely upper middle to upper class.)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. WPDE… normal HTML tags are working again. I would probably eventually get over the changes even when they’re idiotic – but it drives me crazy when you never know what is going to blow up.

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      1. Costco closed the Meford store in 2017 in favor of a much larger one in nearby Central Point. (Medford wasn’t cooperating, didn’t really want the store and made traffic demands that Costco felt they shouldn’t have to pay for. CP wanted the store, and it’s a) huge, and b) packed. Approx 1/3rd the business comes from east of the Cascades, both OR and CA.)

        Was supposed to be a Costco eastside, but the then-owner of Jeld-Wen blocked it. (I gather he was really unhappy when WalMart moved in.) He didn’t want to deal with an anticipated pay increase with more employers. When he died, the company almost went under before being bought out. Wendt wasn’t big on planning carefully and had some developments that would never make a profit. Also never planned for succession in case he died. The local economy is still recovering from Spotted Owl fever and the 2008 housing crash. No mills left, though Jeld_Wen still has an operation and Collins does particle board. Logs go elsewhere when there is logging. (Lots of salvage from Bootleg and the other fires. All summer you could see log trucks with toasted trees.)

        Like

          1. The Barred Owl VS Spotted Owl is popcorn worthy.

            Don’t get me wrong. Being forced to change careers from Forestry to Software was a good move for me. Not that I would admit this (before now. Come on who can resist “Stupid Owl. Stupid Mountain.”?) Did realize it about mid-90s when the company I was riffed from finally started rehiring (of coarse I was making more salary by then than hubby could make at his seniority plus about 20 hours/month overtime at 1.5x. Didn’t last. But still.) I missed working outdoors. Except maybe on days where the heat from the asphalt could be seen. (Think canyons are any better? Trust me. Not usually. That job is ALL on open asphalt.) Or days the sleet rain with visible snow and hail, was visible? That and the timber job is one that if everyone, except the quality check methods, is unhappy with how you do your job. Hubby had no problems. Me? Long term it would not have been good for me (I like the high that comes with software when it all starts coming together). That and child care problematic. One of us had to get out, regardless. Hubby had the better psychic for the job.

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  45. One thing to put under, huh?: birds.
    When we left for the summer, we had a nice assortment of birds at the feeder. Finches, grackles, nut hatch, chickadees, the occasional woodpecker…
    We came back and set up the feeder, expecting the birds to discover it after a couple of weeks. It’s now been almost a month, and I’ve seen maybe five birds, total. There are bluebirds in the neighborhood and I saw more small brown ones today, but where did the birds go?

    Liked by 1 person

    2. We’ve seen a lot more humming birds this winter. (Really need to set them up with feeders to torment amuse the cats where they can see them out the windows.) But the crows and turkeys. OMG they are everywhere. Crows torment the cats when they are out on “adventure” (supervised). Good thing we don’t still have Hobs (died at age 20), he caught birds as they dive bombed him.

      Like

    3. My parents had a couple of bird strikes on their picture window (one survived, one didn’t), so we put up a feeder in front of it this summer, hoping to at least slow them down.

      I don’t know if it was the wrong time of year or what, but there were no takers.

      The chipmunks were happy though, when we took the feeder down and left it on the ground while we put up the exterior insulation. They emptied it in about a day.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. The blackbirds of various types moved on, as did the Scrub Jays. The Stellar’s Jays (crested, and a bit mean) are still around, but in lessened numbers. The two resident woodpeckers are going after the suet, and we have a boatload of little birds (generic Cute Little Birds, likely finches) emptying the seeds when I do a fresh batch. A lot ends up on the ground, making the ringnecked doves and the couple-three dozen quail quite happy.

      Not sure when/if the CLBs will move on. The quail and doves will stay, along with one or both of the woodpeckers.

      We seem to be the food stop for $TINY_TOWN. OTOH, birdseed has gotten more expensive, so we’re trying to limit it a bit. (We set a water bowl out for Kat when we’re out for a while. The little birds think it’s an ideal bird bath. I’ll come back to the house and there’s splashes everywhere and the water is filthy. OTOH, the birds are clean again.)

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      1. I love looking at Stellar’s Jays when we’re out west. It’s like God dipped one end in the charcoal gray pot and the other end in the blue pot.

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        1. They are all over the ponderosa and doug fir woods down home – unfortunately I am just too far away from woods where I live to get anything but scrub jays. Sparrows (Song and House) and House Finches are the majority of my customers, but there is a red breasted nuthatch who is very regular. I need to get a new hook up so the suet can go back out. And set up a better (eg smaller) thistle feeder.

          I love birds.

          Next year (LORD willing and I have coin in the spring) Apple trees will go in along the fence. Gonna start planning next years garden as soon as Territorial sends me their catalogue.

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    5. Bird flu is going around again– it might have flared up really bad in your area, or there may have been a quiet push to remove communal feeding areas in your area to prevent spread of disease. I know a couple of our local zoos were taking steps to keep their birds safe and not become disease vectors, but I don’t know how fatal it would be.

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  46. Hotels, I’ve been traveling western PA for work since the end of August, except for weekends the hotels are mostly empty, and most everyone I see in them is like me traveling for work. Last spell I had with this kind of travel was back in ‘18 and the difference is stark.

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    1. We’ve been getting a lot of “book lodging now for heavy discounts” from different area national parks, the usual apps: Expedia, Priceline, Hotels, Booking, etc.

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    1. And this is where I start trying to control Fist Of Death.

      ““We’re in the moment of realization now where some of the euphoria has worn off and we’re starting to realize it’s still not going to be easy,” is what Eric Scheriff, senior managing director at Capstone Green Energy told Bloomberg this week.

      A highly paid senior managing director of a green energy firm thought it was going to be quick and easy to transition a [dr-evil-voice] 25 TRILLION DOLLAR [/dr-evil-voice] economy that runs mostly on oil and gas to all-electric. Try wrapping your head around just how stupid the smart people really are.”

      https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2023/11/30/green-energy-chickens-have-come-home-to-roost-poop-on-everything-n4924362

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      2. Don’t forget all the trillions of dollars in supporting infrastructure that has been developed and refined incrementally over the last 150 years that they propose to abolish and replace overnight by government fiat.

        There’s a reason the government always supports useless, impractical projects — if they were practical, people would already be making money off of them. If it needs ‘help’ from the government, it’s a boondoggle. See Solyndra.
        ———————————
        If you always expect the government to do the stupidest things you can imagine, you will rarely be disappointed. Indeed, from time to time the government will exceed your expectations and do unimaginably stupid things.

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  48. Sales of software & related services in convenience retail & petroleum wholesale have been soft this year. Our customers, from family-owned outfits that have been in business for decades to some of the world’s largest corporations, are anticipating stiff headwinds. Their sales are likewise – mushy.

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