Non-Ownership Culture Crashes Into An Era of Scarcity In Cars And Housing

I own my house. I own a car. I carry cash. My phone is full of music that I own. I even have some real books I can read. There are many threats to my liberty, but choosing an “ownership lifestyle” gives me some security against denial of service and from a scarcity of housing or conveyances.

There is a strange phenomenon among many people today - especially younger folks and residents of urban areas – they take a bizarre pride in owning close to nothing. They rent their homes, their music is streamed, they rely 100% on other peoples’ cars for transportation. I know several people for whom it is a badge of pride that they never carry a single dollar with them. They have a phone, a Venmo account, and an unfailing belief that they’ll always be able to access the internet and pay for any services with just that.

Over the past several years, journalists (a class of people that is heavily represented by young urbanites) have pumped out article after article praising the benefits of renting versus owning, especially when it comes to housing.

7 reasons renting a home is better than buying one (Business Insider)

I hear you, but your home is still a lousy investment (USA Today)

Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)

When Renting Is Smarter Than Buying (Kiplinger)

Renting is often an excellent option, and for many reasons. But it can be also be a catastrophic non-option when there are no available properties to rent.

A person I know in Texas (“Pat” is unable to renew the lease on his rental house because his landlord has decided to sell the house, a decision likely driven by skyrocketing home prices in that market. Pat now has to move out, but he’s in a tough spot, because with so many people flooding into his Texas city, there is almost nothing available to rent. If a comparable house becomes available, it is now much more expensive and it still gets snatched up immediately at the inflated pricing. Pat has reluctantly looked at apartments, but the same shortage exists there, with prices that have soared in the past year, and which are well in excess of the rent he paid in recent years on a single-family house. He’s in a tough spot and he can’t figure out where to go. Had he bought a home a few years ago he wouldn’t be in this crisis.

This article is from Business Insider, which has published a blizzard of those “renting is better than owning” columns in recent years: The price of renting a house is exploding for everyone who can't afford to buy, and Southern cities are getting especially expensive.

Oops. Some of those renters might have been able to buy a house a few years ago before home prices exploded, but now they can neither afford to buy nor rent.

How about music? No one under 40 even buys music any more, right? Why buy when you can stream? Well for starters, the music you want to hear may get banned by streaming services.

Starting With R. Kelly, Spotify Pulls Artists From Playlists For 'Hateful Conduct'

Spotify Partially Lifts Its Morgan Wallen Playlist Ban

After watching social media purge so many conservative voices – including the President of the United States, you can bet that Spotify and Apple will soon be completely devoid of any music that isn’t properly woke. Heck, cancel culture has already come for Hank Williams Jr, who was kicked off Monday Night Football for daring to criticize Obama. If you don’t own Hank’s music in physical media, the day will come when you won’t be able to hear it at all.

It’s not just music. Netflix Reveals 9 Movies and TV Shows Banned From Its Platform Around the World You probably shouldn’t expect Animal House to remain available from streaming services much longer.

Above all other possessions, car ownership equals freedom, which is the primary reason that the American left has been at war with car ownership for several decades. Owning a car in New York City is challenging and expensive, but still, the vast majority of those who were capable of escaping New York City in 2020 didn’t escape via subway or a taxi. They drove their private cars to New Jersey, or the Hamptons, or the Berkshires. Or if they truly embraced freedom, they made a one-way, permanent drive to Florida – the new beacon of liberty.

When a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast, the people evacuating aren’t taking an Uber or a “ride share.” They are overwhelmingly driving their own cars. Many of the people without cars are the ones who “ride out the storm” because they have no way to evacuate.

But what about the young and car-less in hip urban areas? Well, this doesn’t sound very fun either:
‘It is not dependable for me at all’: Boston.com readers weigh in on the Uber and Lyft shortages

“I legit almost had to hitchhike home,” said a reader who waited more than an hour-and-a-half for an Uber to arrive.

Unfortunately, if that Uber passenger tries to go buy a car now, he is in for some tough shopping.

Empty Lots, Angry Customers: Chip Crisis Throws Wrench Into Car Business (WSJ)

Somewhat related, those who have trusted all their digital wealth to third parties operating online or in the cloud may find they can suddenly not access it at the most critical times. The Christmas Day Nashville bombing was a wake-up call to many who lost their internet and the use of their credit cards.

AT&T outage puts Chattanooga's biggest retailers on cash-only payments

Yep, cash is a good thing to have in a time of crisis. As is housing, transportation, fuel, food, and means of self-defense. Owning a house and a car indicates that a person believes in self-reliance. Those who trust that others will always be able to provide those basic human needs have learned some hard lessons recently. Perhaps the constant upheavals of the past 18 months will spur a revival of “ownership culture.”

(buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com)

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 03:17 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Ownership lifestyle on computers, linux is the choice.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:18 PM (KnJdm)

2 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (Zz0t1)

3 I asked my mechanic if he knew anyone who was selling a make/model/year used vehicle I'm looking for. He told me Good Luck! Wait until you see how much used cars cost!
When I looked up the price of the vehicle I'm seeking - a 9 yr. old model...my chin dropped. There is a scarcity in the used car market for sure.
the good news is, I have a clunker sitting in the driveway I can probably use to help defray the cost of the newer (used) car I want.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (DJFLF)

4 You will own nothing and be happy!

Also this is a conspiracy theory.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (z5Vrg)

5 Even on other OSs, check on the Calibre ebook reader.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (KnJdm)

6 "You'll own nothing... and like it."

Isn't that the Davos message to the rest of the world?

Posted by: red speck at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (gS3OW)

7 These are the same people that bitch about how awful landlords are.... Free housing for everyone!

Posted by: PAgirlinNC at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (PHgP7)

8 I hear you, but your home is still a lousy investment (USA Today)

**

I understand these words, but this makes absolutely no sense. It's arguably the #1 wealth vehicle for the majority of minorities, and a big component of middle class wealth in general.

It's bizarre to see such a bald-face lie like that. Not a mistake. A lie.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (q8U4k)

9 I remember reading a piece in, probably the SF Chronicle, about a woman who was facing some vast increase in her rent in SF, that she claimed she couldn't afford, and when you read a little further you found that she'd been renting there for THIRTY YEARS and her rent increases over that time had been some tiny fraction of market, and she hadn't put a penny away against the time that this gravy train ran off the track.

Posted by: JEM at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (8erNz)

10 AT&T outage puts Chattanooga's biggest retailers on cash-only payments
Yep, cash is a good thing to have in a time of crisis. As is housing, transportation, fuel, food, and means of self-defense.

I have heard of two incidents recently at big chain stores where the consumer could not use credit card due to outage.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (DJFLF)

11 I have a clunker sitting in the driveway I can probably use to help defray the cost of the newer (used) car I want.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (DJFLF)

I am driving 25+ year old truck. When it is time, the engine and tranny will be rebuilt, which is still cheaper than new.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (KnJdm)

12 Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)
====

Uh, really? That's why I bought. The mortgage is much cheaper than rents I could find.

Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (IytoW)

13 Hey! A new one!

I own a house AND rent an apartment! Thank you, dissolved marriage.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (cvNl1)

14 I thank God that someone bought my house, but if it would have been me? I'd have passed.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (OCTRt)

15 Willowed, when I wondered who coined the term "President Bitch, Please" last year to refer to harris:

President Bitch Please was not me, but I don't mind taking credit for it! Haha.
Posted by: Mrs. Peel at August 02, 2021

Any idea who it was? Step up and receive your kudos.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (/XOcP)

16 Buck Farack

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (Zz0t1)

17 "Your house is still a lousy investment"

Bought my house in 2016 for $685k

Two houses in my neighborhood, neither as large, in as good of condition or with ocean views like mine has - just sold for $1.1m each (one of which got bought by a Paypal muckitymuck and was leveled for a new monstrosity being constructed)

My home just got appraised at $1.7m for a Home Equity Loan.

I'd say it's been a really damn good investment.

Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (qiiRE)

18 13 Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)
====

Uh, really? That's why I bought. The mortgage is much cheaper than rents I could find.
Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (IytoW)

And not long term... rents go up, your mortgage does not.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (oHd/0)

19 These are the same people that bitch about how awful landlords are.... Free housing for everyone!
Posted by: PAgirlinNC at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (PHgP7)

Just have the government buy all the property, and we'll all rent directly from them! No more property taxes ever again! Yay!

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (6FeV1)

20 In no world is renting a home better than owning one. Never.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (Zz0t1)

21 I have heard of two incidents recently at big chain stores where the consumer could not use credit card due to outage.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (DJFLF)

In power outage and you need to fuel up? Cash is always accepted, even when the networks are not up.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (KnJdm)

22 Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)

Might have been true 30 years ago.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (OCTRt)

23 You probably shouldn't expect Animal House to remain available from streaming services much longer.

========

I just got the 4K UHD of that.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (LvTSG)

24 How about music? No one under 40 even buys music any more, right? Why buy when you can stream? Well for starters, the music you want to hear may get banned by streaming services.

***

Kids, sit down and let me tell you a story about the internet before facebook.

There was something called napster once. And audiogalaxy...

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (q8U4k)

25 Buck, please come on back to the ONT soon. MisHum has gone crazy.

Posted by: qdpsteve (L2ZTs) at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (L2ZTs)

26 Own nothing, depend on everything.

That's all this is, a rush to dependency.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (KbCG3)

27 I own my house. I own a car. I carry cash. My phone is full of music that I own. I even have some real books I can read.
.......

A couple guns wouldn't hurt.

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (v0R5T)

28 Good post Buck!

I've been thinking about this issue a good bit recently. And not selling any of my cars

Posted by: Dave in Fla at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (b6zML)

29 You will own nothing and be happy!

Also this is a conspiracy theory.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (z5Vrg)

Also see electric vehicles. I can go only 300 miles on a charge? Sorry, freedom of movement is also restricted.

Posted by: Quilter's Irish Death at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (k/TB6)

30 Sorry to be a broken record, but none of these shortages are normal and we shouldn't just accept them as the new normal.

Posted by: 496 at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (VJsqe)

31 You will own nothing and be happy.

Posted by: thathalfrican - The One at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (emigc)

32 In no world is renting a home better than owning one. Never.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (Zz0t1)

Particularly with rates where they've been. I'm paying 1.8% with no points on my house. There are no conditions under which renting would be better.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (cvNl1)

33 This is the main legacy of the zoomers: not owning anything, not keeping anything. They think they will always be able to just borrow or take what they want, primarily online, without any responsibility or ownership. No car, no house, no music, no books, all just "in the cloud" or temporarily rented.

Its catastrophically stupid, but a huge boon for big business. See, the main problem with ownership is that once you've bought it, you now have it without giving them any more money. But if you rent it, you pay forever.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (KZzsI)

34 Yeah, I can echo this. I was very, very lucky to buy a house in East Texas days before the rush hit. And now I'm watching the inflation rate shoot past my interest rate and watching it enrich me and impoverish the blue, urban voters.

Posted by: Keith at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (iG9OZ)

35 BigBank and WallStreet can create trillions out of nothing .. they want to turn it into real performing assets (maybe)?

Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (Cus5s)

36 The peasants aren't going to be allowed to own anything?
Well, its only right. They stink on ice!

Posted by: Some French Aristocrat at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (DpkTQ)

37 "Your house is still a lousy investment"

Paid $59,900 thirty years ago.
Sold it last month for $245,000.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (OCTRt)

38 enrich me and impoverish the blue, urban voters.

Posted by: Keith at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (iG9OZ)

What's not to like?

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (KnJdm)

39 The youngest generation are also the same ones who are telling us that "cis-genderedness is kink, not a proper gender ID."

They are the fools we were warned about by Burke:
"But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint."

Posted by: red speck at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (gS3OW)

40 I am big on owning physical copies of music. I use Spotify or YouTube to discover music. If I like it I buy a CD.

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (xPl2J)

41
Any stupid asshole knows that three-quarters of your mortgage payment goes right back into your own pocket, whereas 100% of your rent payment goes up in smoke.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (Glq7j)

42
Particularly with rates where they've been. I'm paying 1.8% with no points on my house. There are no conditions under which renting would be better.
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (cvNl1)

Not mentioning the equity, borrowability and future capabilities if/when it comes time to sell.

Renters get NOTHING and LIKE IT.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (Zz0t1)

43 I haven't read the text but I will since I am commenting. My opinion is renting is a fools game. Sure there are situations, You could be in NYC and buying is impossible. You could be trying out a new town or state and just want to get your feet wet. But in my experience, renting is the biggest p hole you will ever find. You can give people hundreds of thousands, own nothing, and the only say "F you, pay me!".
I hope I am not out of line, but i learned the hard way renting sucks. Sure if you make a ton I guess it is just a debit on the receipt. But when you own, you can sell the thing you bought into at a gain or even a loss. If you rent, every month is a loss.
But I will read the links, they are interesting. I didn't want to go off about this but I think someone should take the other tack. My guess is many would agree with me but I could be severely wrong about that. Either way, I am happy to learn more about it. Thanks.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (ZS6f0)

44 Renting to me is tossing the money out the window every month. I get why some do, did it myself some years.

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (Cxk7w)

45 38 "Your house is still a lousy investment"

Paid $59,900 thirty years ago.
Sold it last month for $245,000.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (OCTRt)

That's about a 5% rate of return, but much better if you borrowed at a lower rate to finance much of the purchase.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (z5Vrg)

46 To be fair, most of the music these people are listening to isn't worth owning.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (Y5qcH)

47 Paid $59,900 thirty years ago.
Sold it last month for $245,000.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (OCTRt)

We are finishing a build and county already has it assessed at 1.5 or so times build cost.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (KnJdm)

48 38 "Your house is still a lousy investment"

Paid $59,900 thirty years ago.
Sold it last month for $245,000.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (OCTRt)

==========

We're getting to the point where we could sell our house for 25% more than we bought it just over a year ago.

Dolley's started looking at floor plans of houses to build. I'm not sure how this is gonna work out.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (LvTSG)

49 19 13 Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)
====

Uh, really? That's why I bought. The mortgage is much cheaper than rents I could find.
Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (IytoW)

And not long term... rents go up, your mortgage does not.
Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (oHd/0)

Hello, bank. I'd like to pull some of the equity out of my apartment. Hey, sorry, can you stop laughing for a second?

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (KbCG3)

50 In no world is renting a home better than owning one. Never.

I can think of some scenarios. If you only will be living in an area a limited time (college student, for instance). If you are terminally ill. If you are too poor to buy a home outright. That kind of thing.

Generally speaking though, USA Today propaganda notwithstanding, property is one of the very few solid, reliable investments even in bad times.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (KZzsI)

51 In power outage and you need to fuel up? Cash is always accepted, even when the networks are not up.
Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (KnJdm)

I will have to remember to always have a $20 bill on me just in case.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (DJFLF)

52 Your mortgage might go up, if you do adjustable rate. You can count on your property taxes going up.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (YynYJ)

53 anyone who rented sold for $0.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (ZS6f0)

54 40 They are the fools we were warned about by Burke:
"But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint."
Posted by: red speck at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (gS3OW)

========

"Well, he got that one detail wrong."
-Universities

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:25 PM (LvTSG)

55 Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (Cus5s)

Yep

Posted by: thathalfrican - The One at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (emigc)

56 I like and use modern technology, but try to mostly use the ancient knowledge on a daily basis. Such as using cash, owning a home, paying off my car and keeping it as long as possible, Not walking around clueless staring at a I-phone and panic when it doesn't work, etc...

This knowledge (Rugged Individualism) is not taught or passed on to the children of today.

Posted by: James at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (24+Vp)

57 To be fair, most of the music these people are listening to isn't worth owning.

Ditto movies. And much of TV, although we're in kind of a golden age of TV quality.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (KZzsI)

58
lindsey cocksucker graham has the china flu?

Did lindsey get it from his boy sex-slave?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (Glq7j)

59 I was looking into buying a small house or a condo for several years before the Big Hysteria hit. Anything I could afford around this dump was either *very* far from my work, a dump itself, or far beyond my price range. Same for condos, which all felt like the apartments they began life as, and demanded high condo fees every month. There's a radio PSA where a woman says, "When you became a homeowner, you compared interest rates, scoured neighborhoods, asked the right questions. . . ."

Ha. In Noo Awlins, aka Da Swamp, there are no neighborhoods to scour. Everything is either $$$$, or a dump in a high-crime area. Nothing in between

I still want to be a homeowner. But I doubt I'll be able to find anything, even after I flee this place.

But I have my own car, and it's almost paid for!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (/XOcP)

60 My "lousy" home investment (that I live in) is up 68% in two years. The only "bad" thing is it's in an HOA neighborhood.

Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (SchxB)

61 That's about a 5% rate of return, but much better if you borrowed at a lower rate to finance much of the purchase.

**

The roof over your head is worth at least another 5%.

Not to mention not having to pay an additional amount for said roof.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (q8U4k)

62 Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (qiiRE)

My house was bought by my Parents in 1958 for the HUGE price of $17,500. Two Additions, and a swimming pool... and a lot of tender loving care.... and my house is worth north of $400K.

Yeah, thats over 60 years... but not a bad investment.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (oHd/0)

63 We're getting to the point where we could sell our house for 25% more than we bought it just over a year ago.

Dolley's started looking at floor plans of houses to build. I'm not sure how this is gonna work out.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

LOL. *fistbump
Do it! Just talked to the bank today. We close on the construction loan Monday.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (OCTRt)

64 Our mechanic recommended that we rent instead of buy cars. The XO discovered we could rent for less than he was prepared to pay monthly for a halfway decent used car. We're working on our second.

We are looking to sell our house and move into 55+ apartment. I don't know about the rest of the country, but there is a three year waiting list for every 55+ apartment in Omaha.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- Bitterly clinging to the deplorable life at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (pRR7F)

65 Average price of a house in the US in 2003: $240K
Average price of a house in the US in 2021: $420K
That's just slightly less then a 100% increase.

That's a pretty good investment - especially because you need housing one way or another.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (DpkTQ)

66 64 LOL. *fistbump
Do it! Just talked to the bank today. We close on the construction loan Monday.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (OCTRt)

==========

It'd be moving back to Alabama and living in her mother's house while construction happened.

I'm not that eager.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (LvTSG)

67 We're getting to the point where we could sell our house for 25% more than we bought it just over a year ago.

Dolley's started looking at floor plans of houses to build. I'm not sure how this is gonna work out.
-------
We bought in mid 2019 for $330,000. Sold last week for $485,000 in Mesa AZ.

Posted by: Quilter's Irish Death at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (k/TB6)

68 They are the fools we were warned about by Burke:
"But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint."
Posted by: red speck at August 02, 2021 02:24 PM (gS3OW)

This is it, in a nutshell.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (DJFLF)

69 I own my house. I own a car. I carry cash. My phone is full of music that I own. I even have some real books I can read. There are many threats to my liberty, but choosing an ownership lifestyle gives me some security against denial of service and from a scarcity of housing or conveyances.

Same here, I owe no one except the tax collector. And we worked damn hard and made sure this would happen.
Best feeling ever.

Posted by: Pony Tail at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (tzZq2)

70 Rent Now! And beat the coming Hyper Inflation!

Posted by: rd at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (Z32m1)

71 1 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:19 PM (Zz0t1)
https://tinyurl.com/w3axjfau

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (ynpvh)

72 lindsey cocksucker graham has the china flu?

Did lindsey get it from his boy sex-slave?
======

Notice it's always a Republican? I cannot think of any Democrats who have had it. There may have been some, but very, very few.

Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (IytoW)

73
"Why it's good thing to have a social credit system that allows a faceless bureaucrat who doesn't like your lip and back-sass to cut you off from housing, food, transportation, and access to your own fucking money."

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (ejzCX)

74 Confirmed: Lindsey Graham was at Bear Week

Posted by: Mark1971 at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (xPl2J)

75 lindsey cocksucker graham has the china flu?
I've asked this before, but considering how Wu Flu is going to kill us all - how many of our old, out of shape governing elites have died from it?
The answer to this point is 0 right?

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (DpkTQ)

76 All this is part and parcel of the JIT, buy on credit attitude which has infested the west. Why save up for a car when you can buy now for 0.5% interest? Why buy a starter home when you have a "luxury" apartment in a trendy neighborhood, no matter that it costs your entire paycheck. We've abandoned what investors used to think of as the margin of safety, not just financially but culturally and socially.

Why is the government propping up the stock market with massive spending? Because retirement accounts and pensions need continued massive growth that they've long assumed in their calculations.

It's often tearing down Chesterton's Fence because you save some money in the short run by not paying to repair it.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (4ngKR)

77 I'm not that eager.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (LvTSG)

methinks you should prepare for a whole lotta yo mama-in-law's cooking.

It sounds like those two have worked out all the details.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (DJFLF)

78 Now playing....Rolling Stone by everybody.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (qoz/n)

79 Our mechanic recommended that we rent instead of buy cars.

A lot of people do that, especially wealthier ones. Lease a car for a few years, turn it in, get a new one. That way you pay next to nothing on maintenance and don't have to worry about selling your old car. But still: owning stuff is the smart way of the future for everyone in a world where being blocked from buying things because of a joke you made in 1998 is a very real threat.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (KZzsI)

80 Anybody check on Kathy Griffin lately. Hope she's doing OK, and perfectly healthy.

Posted by: Jimco Industries at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (buTO7)

81 If you don't have the money for maintenance, you may be better off renting. I've never liked it. I want to own the roof over my head, even if it means living in a trailer.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (YynYJ)

82 71 Rent Now! And beat the coming Hyper Inflation!

Posted by: rd at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (Z32m1)

Ahhh! I miss the days of Jimmy Carter and 25% interest rates! Yay! Maybe we can get Iran or China to take some American hostages...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (ynpvh)

83 Notice it's always a Republican? I cannot think of any Democrats who have had it. There may have been some, but very, very few.
Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (IytoW)

The TX fleebaggers

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (DJFLF)

84
Our mechanic recommended that we rent instead of buy cars.
Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin

I'm guessing you hardly ever drive?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (Glq7j)

85 78 methinks you should prepare for a whole lotta yo mama-in-law's cooking.

It sounds like those two have worked out all the details.
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (DJFLF)

=========

Heh. No, they haven't. And MiL won't be doing the cooking. She cooks spaghetti for at least half an hour before deciding it's done.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, hunting lycans with Kate Beckinsale at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (LvTSG)

86 65 -- I should mention we've lived here for 39+ years, and it looks like we will be making about a 500% profit on the place.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- Bitterly clinging to the deplorable life at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (pRR7F)

87 Notice it's always a Republican? I cannot think of any Democrats who
have had it. There may have been some, but very, very few.
The texas fleabaggers all got it - but as a counter example look at Gov Gruesome in CA who does everything but blow hobos (that we know of) and he's yet to get it.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (DpkTQ)

88 And not long term... rents go up, your mortgage does not.
Posted by: Romeo13

That's what got us into a home in the first place. We signed a year lease on an apartment. After that year, they jacked up the rent and then only did 6 month leases. Didn't take rocket surgery to figure out the jig.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (OCTRt)

89 Its catastrophically stupid, but a huge boon for big business. See, the main problem with ownership is that once you've bought it, you now have it without giving them any more money. But if you rent it, you pay forever.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (KZzsI)

Yep, this.

Posted by: Pony Tail at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (tzZq2)

90 How the government wants you to live:

https://tinyurl.com/2y24dc

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (v0R5T)

91 If I don't drive a car for at least 250K I feel like I got ripped off.

Spoilers: There are tons of people out there looking for a decent 250K mileage car with receipts for $1000.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (q8U4k)

92 It's a good thing that cars were invented in the 1990s. I mean, how the heck could you drive the things without chips inside it?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (19g6/)

93 I too carry cash for gas, groceries, and other things, but I still visit the ATM far too often. I should total up all the cash I withdraw in a 30-day period, add about 10%, and take that out, one withdrawal, when I get paid at the end of each month. Stash most of it at home, and withdraw as needed.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (/XOcP)

94 I could sell my house for 6 or 7 times what I paid for it

but it would cost me twice the sales price to buy something as nice

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (YK4Qh)

95 "Rent to buy" was a common idea when I was a kid.

Everyone seemed to know owning something was a better investment...though people might not have the money saved for it...yet.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (DpkTQ)

96 Notsothoreau, yup.

My strategy is to go somewhere rather exurban and get either a trailer or condo.

Posted by: qdpsteve (L2ZTs) at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (L2ZTs)

97 The only "bad" thing is it's in an HOA neighborhood.
Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (SchxB)

You may not want an HOA, but just wait till some asshat from Manhattan Beach CA who works for paypal buys a house in your neighborhood - knocks it to the ground, uses dynamite to blast the ledge all of us are on (causing damage to many homes in the process) and then builds what can only be described as a castle (I named it the 'Bastion of Despair' and it seems to be taking hold amongst the neighbors) on the lot - blocking the views of the neighbors who have enjoyed them for 40 years.

Then you'll see the value in an HOA.

Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (qiiRE)

98 Gov Gruesome in CA who does everything but blow hobos (that we know of) and he's yet to get it.
Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (DpkTQ)

You're thinking of Ed Buck. He just donated to Gruesome.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (Y5qcH)

99
Notice it's always a Republican? I cannot think of any Democrats who have had it. There may have been some, but very, very few.
Posted by: bicentennialguy

You should also notice how fast it's always Leaked to the Fake News....by the Republican's own staff!

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (Glq7j)

100 And MiL won't be doing the cooking. She cooks spaghetti for at least half an hour before deciding it's done.

There is a generation (greatest and silent) that viciously overcooked all their food, mostly because it was safer to do so, just in case. But it makes their food horrible despite their otherwise being great cooks. Wonderful pie grandma, but why are your vegetables cooked into gray mush?

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (KZzsI)

101 but it would cost me twice the sales price to buy something as nice
Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:30 PM (YK4Qh)

this is the thing. Yes I can sell my house for a profit, but where would I go?

Mississippi?

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:31 PM (DJFLF)

102 Carter's tweets were sweet.

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at August 02, 2021 02:31 PM (qoz/n)

103 Hi, does your friend Pat happen to live in Frisco, TX?

Posted by: Joe Kenney at August 02, 2021 02:31 PM (8a6+p)

104 Same here, I owe no one except the tax collector. And we worked damn hard and made sure this would happen.
Best feeling ever.
Posted by: Pony Tail at August 02, 2021 02:27 PM (tzZq2)

Yup, own the house outright... wrote checks for my last couple of cars. Don't even have a credit card, although I do run two different bank accounts so I have two different debit cards (in case one gets cut off).

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (oHd/0)

105 I wish that it would lead to more of an ownership society, but I fear they will demand that government provide them with what they can no longer buy or rent.

Posted by: Zach John Galt at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (skuYw)

106 My phone is full of music that I own.

Having actual music files is something I will never give up. I have ripped all of my CDs to digital files -- but I still have my CD collection.

Streaming services are convenient. I use a few and am glad they exist. But there are some songs or versions of songs that are just not available on any streaming platform. And my CDs / digital music files are not subject to being taken away because the artists once said a non-woke thing.

Posted by: Doof (mZUr4) at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (mZUr4)

107 Heh. No, they haven't. And MiL won't be doing the cooking. She cooks spaghetti for at least half an hour before deciding it's done.

Infamnia!

(she shouts, between gags)

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (DJFLF)

108
how many of our old, out of shape governing elites have died from it?
The answer to this point is 0 right?
Posted by: 18-1

How odd...

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (Glq7j)

109 this is the thing. Yes I can sell my house for a profit, but where would I go?

Mississippi?
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:31 PM (DJFLF)

Varna Bulgaria

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (YK4Qh)

110 It is interesting that in my own social circle, no woman under 50 can cook.
Most of the men can't either, but there are a few for whom it is a serious hobby.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (DpkTQ)

111 And I have a car loan. I think it's the second time I've done that. But it's an older car and the llan is $130 a month. I have one more payment to make on a bill, then I can apply more to paying off the car.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (YynYJ)

112 92 If I don't drive a car for at least 250K I feel like I got ripped off.

Spoilers: There are tons of people out there looking for a decent 250K mileage car with receipts for $1000.
Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:29 PM (q8U4k)

You must not live in the rust belt. Cars are lucky to last 5 years up here in the Northeast.

Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (qiiRE)

113 31 Sorry to be a broken record, but none of these shortages are normal and we shouldn't just accept them as the new normal.
Posted by: 496 at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (VJsqe)

It will take time to replenish even the lean inventories modern companies depend on. The cost of shipping a container from China to the West coast (*spit*) went from $2Kish to $18-20Kish.

The bad news is, some stuff isn't even worth the shipping at the moment. The good news is, no government certified Genius has yet screwed with the price meaning people on both sides of the Pacific are scrambling to add capacity and the market will normalize.

Posted by: Bilwis Devourer of Innocent Souls, I'm starvin' over here at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (Wm5SB)

114 LOL. *fistbump
Do it! Just talked to the bank today. We close on the construction loan Monday.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:26 PM (OCTRt)

Congrats!!

Posted by: Pony Tail at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (tzZq2)

115 I own my house. I own a car. I carry cash. My phone is full of music that I own. I even have some real books I can read. There are many threats to my liberty, but choosing an ownership lifestyle gives me some security against denial of service and from a scarcity of housing or conveyances.

Same here, I owe no one except the tax collector. And we worked damn hard and made sure this would happen.
Best feeling ever.
Posted by: Pony Tail

Bought wife a new truck two weeks before we closed on our house. Paid off her truck last week.

For the next week I owe no one a dime.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (OCTRt)

116 but it would cost me twice the sales price to buy something as nice

Well, that's the rub. Yes, your house now sells for a lot, but so does everyone else's. We're in an interesting position now where my recently-deceased aunt put in her will to sell her home and whatever we didn't want from the house, to gather the money together. So we can sell at nice new home prices and get the money without needing to find a place, then it goes to the people the will directs.

But sell your own house? Good luck buying anything even as nice as it was.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (KZzsI)

117 I probably could get twice the house I have in PA down Mississip' way

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (DJFLF)

118 Like I always told cornpop, why buy the milk when you can rent the cow!! Amirite ladies? Trumnamulization pony soldiers. Can I get a YEEEARGH?

Posted by: Preznit Ruprect the Monkeyboy at August 02, 2021 02:33 PM (FgW3B)

119 I really hate modern phones. People walk around staring at these damn things and put it on speaker so loud that you can hear the conversation 2 blocks away. Some people are so clueless of their surroundings and walk into you and give you a befuddled look Biden Dumb-ass look with the mouth open...

Posted by: James at August 02, 2021 02:33 PM (24+Vp)

120 This was a thought-provoking opening essay, imo. I found out lots of new ways the MSM is full of skit-- which I'd somehow missed.

Continuing fro the last thread:

I was curious how Stockdale felt about McCain. So I looked it up. To my surprise, Stockdale said McCain was "solid as a rock" as a POW, & that McCain had conducted himself honorably.

Posted by: mnw at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (Cssks)

121 My neighbors of 9 years are moving today. They have rented a house the whole time and never bothered to buy it. Now they can't afford it.

Posted by: johnd01 at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (ukNFU)

122 117 "but it would cost me twice the sales price to buy something as nice"

Well, that's the rub. Yes, your house now sells for a lot, but so does everyone else's. We're in an interesting position now where my recently-deceased aunt put in her will to sell her home and whatever we didn't want from the house, to gather the money together. So we can sell at nice new home prices and get the money without needing to find a place, then it goes to the people the will directs.

But sell your own house? Good luck buying anything even as nice as it was.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (KZzsI)

You can really only take advantages of this by moving from a high housing cost area to a low housing cost area. That and the leverage.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (z5Vrg)

123 Easy way to lower housing costs...both rental and buying? Send the illegals home, and stop new immigration.

Supply and demand - something I remind every middle/working class person I know that bitches about housing costs.

People don't even realize how hard it is to fit a spherical Guatemalan in a rectangular house.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (DpkTQ)

124 After my car with 230000 miles was stolen, I used my insurance payout (had to haggle with the bastards) for a down payment on a new one.

I now trade in my car every three years, which is the length of the warranty. Finance for 6. Payments keep going down as I keep building equity in each vehicle. I consider it a fixed expense as I pay for oil changes only.

The only bad part is the excise tax is like another car payment. I've had old cars. The lack of worry is worth any of the tradeoff for being a bad "investment".

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (byF5j)

125 It is interesting that in my own social circle, no woman under 50 can cook.

Yeah, and I blame asinine feminism. They were angry that women were expected to cook, so they decided no girl should ever learn to. Uber Eats loves this but seriously? You want to go through life eating dubious overpriced takeout?

That's why those "we'll send you food to cook in the mail" packages were popular for a while, but even those were beyond the phone generation.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (KZzsI)

126 Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum. Great Reset. "You'll own nothing and you'll love it."

It's not like they haven't been telegraphing where they are steering society.

It's true that I will not live in a pod and eat bugs, but they're going to try their damn best to make sure my descendants will, through no choice of their own.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (DXFDM)

127 Varna Bulgaria
Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (YK4Qh)

I hear Croatia is nice this time of year.

And I'm not even kidding.

some of them even speak italian.

but now the world has gone mad so I stick with the devil I know

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (DJFLF)

128 You must not live in the rust belt. Cars are lucky to last 5 years up here in the Northeast.
Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (qiiRE)

**

Yeah, here in the South it's not unheard of to find late 90s or early 2000 Buicks with 40-60K miles on them that look like they did when they rolled off the lot. Literally one owner old lady drove it on Sundays to church cars.

The humidity this time of year is tough, but cars last a long time down here.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (q8U4k)

129 Absolutely, Buck. It can be summed up this way, as I heard from my dad once:
"If I can't stand in front of it with a gun, I don't own it."

Not everything is necessarily right. Houses are, as far as investments go, not great. You can't beat it as far as places to live go, but as investments they're suspect. Sure, they are a great inflation hedge on 7-10+ year timelines, but they also require constant upkeep and liability. They're not a great financial investment. They are, however, a cornerstone item for retirement. Having a house you own and that is paid off makes retirement a *lot* more achievable.

But that nuance is quite secondary. I enjoyed your essay.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (3p5uk)

130 ITS TOO DAMN HIGH!

Posted by: The rent is too damn high guy at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (FgW3B)

131 77 All this is part and parcel of the JIT, buy on credit attitude which has infested the west.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (4ngKR)

Buying on credit is not really an issue. Overextending yourself is.

People who are good with money recognize that financing at a good rate is a smart decision...if you can put the money you'd withhold to use earning more than the financing percentage.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (KbCG3)

132 I don't get the whole "let me allow tech oligarchs to control everything" mindset, especially from those who are supposed to be skeptical if the powerful and rich. Every liberal whines about the 1%, but then gives them power to turn off thier lives at will. I guess they assume those tech leaders are on "thier side" ignoring how China is thier only true lord.

I guess the problem with owning things though, today at least, is we don't own shit. Own a house, well the government can up your taxes and then confiscate it, or if you have a few apartments for rent they can decide who you rent to and for how much (they've already made it illegal to keep the apartments empty snd not rent them too) Your car, well if it's too dirty when it comes to emissions they'll say you can't drive it. Your cash, thirst making that more and more worthless.

I still side with the second group, as there's is some safety there (the never having cash is the stupidest thing, i always have some on me and a fair amount hidden at home.) But if we keep letting commies run things there won't be too much left to own besides a ripped pair of pants and your weekly allotment of rice.

Posted by: Rbastid at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (XwTyM)

133
There's an easy and cheap way to prevent your car from rusting out: undercoat with oil. The best time to do it, of course, is when it's new. Then once a year.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (Glq7j)

134 There are still places you can buy cheap. The midwestern states have lots. My favorite right. Ow is 30k.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (YynYJ)

135 You must not live in the rust belt. Cars are lucky to last 5 years up here in the Northeast.
Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:32 PM (qiiRE)

No kidding. I just dropped a bundle on body work for a 2015 Ford with 85k miles on it because not doing so meant it would not pass inspection next year. No way I want to be looking at any sort of replacement vehicle in the next 24-36 months.

Posted by: moon_over_vermont at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (CoMmC)

136 You can really only take advantages of this by moving from a high housing cost area to a low housing cost area. That and the leverage.

Or you can wait til the housing market crashes again, sell just before and buy after :/

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (KZzsI)

137 And there is, of course (and as is pointed out above) much more to ownership than the notion of an "investment." Ownership is control. If you own nothing, you control nothing. And if you control nothing, you are controlled. If you are controlled, you are on your way to becoming a slave.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (3p5uk)

138 Being a homeowner (multiple properties now) is a good play in an inflationary environment.

Posted by: CDR M (Retired) at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (JSetw)

139 And I have a car loan. I think it's the second time I've done that. But it's an older car and the llan is $130 a month. I have one more payment to make on a bill, then I can apply more to paying off the car.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021

***
My Buick's loan was reasonable, but I've been paying it off faster. With any luck I can pay it off next month -- a nice b'day present for myself, and then that money can go into savings. The car is only 5 years old with 51K miles on it, new Continental tires and a 1-year-old battery, and everything is in top-notch operating and cosmetic condition.

I used to be sorry I lost my BMW in the July 2019 flood. Now, with the Buick, not sorry much at all.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (/XOcP)

140 Starting to censor movies? Doing the Fascists government job 1 company at a time.

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (Cxk7w)

141 I don't get the whole "let me allow tech oligarchs to control everything" mindset, especially from those who are supposed to be skeptical if the powerful and rich. Every liberal whines about the 1%, but then gives them power to turn off thier lives at will. I guess they assume those tech leaders are on "thier side" ignoring how China is thier only true lord.

I think its partly Cargo Cult mentality, people fascinated by science and technology and blind to its drawbacks, or at least willing to put up with them so they can have their dishwasher connected to the internet. Why? TECHNOLOGY!!!!1!1!!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (KZzsI)

142 I hear Croatia is nice this time of year.

And I'm not even kidding.

some of them even speak italian.

but now the world has gone mad so I stick with the devil I know
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (DJFLF)

Vana is cheap and beautiful
and the only thing black is the sea

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (YK4Qh)

143 If the Biden weasel now talking to the press says one more time, "...the President has asked us to kick the tires, to double-, triple-, quadruple-check for legal authority to extend the rent moratorium...", I'm going to kill myself. Geez, what a bunch of weaselly-weasels in the Biden Junta!

Posted by: Gref at August 02, 2021 02:37 PM (AMIL/)

144 They were angry that women were expected to cook, so they decided no
girl should ever learn to. Uber Eats loves this but seriously? You want
to go through life eating dubious overpriced takeout?
A lot of those couples have put on serious wait due to Wu Flu lockdowns.
There are eating the same fatty/sugary foods from ubereats they were getting in the restaurants but driving somewhere encouraged people to walk around the area as well...

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:37 PM (DpkTQ)

145
Q: What do you call a smart phone in the wilderness once it is discharged?

A: Just one more thing you can drop at the edge of a cliff to measure its time falling, in seconds, and then use that to compute the height of the cliff.

My favorite response to scouts who ask me, "What time is it?" is, "Time for you to get a watch of your own."

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 02, 2021 02:37 PM (qYKU9)

146 What is next for Biden and BLM. Blacks can purchase houses at a 25% discount from a white person all in the name of social justice.

Posted by: James at August 02, 2021 02:37 PM (24+Vp)

147 137 "You can really only take advantages of this by moving from a high housing cost area to a low housing cost area. That and the leverage."

Or you can wait til the housing market crashes again, sell just before and buy after :/
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (KZzsI)

Well if you can pull that off reliably I'd like to sign up as an apprentice.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (z5Vrg)

148
Speaking of things getting stolen...

should I do an "inventory" of what's in the house for insurance porpoises just in case of a burglary?

Video? Pics? Serial numbers? Is the insurance policy going to pay me?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (Glq7j)

149 lot of people do that, especially wealthier ones.
Lease a car for a few years, turn it in, get a new one. That way you pay
next to nothing on maintenance and don't have to worry about selling
your old car. But still: owning stuff is the smart way of the future
for everyone in a world where being blocked from buying things because
of a joke you made in 1998 is a very real threat.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (KZzsI)
cars only lose value, with a very, very few exceptions that are basically collectors pieces. I tell anyone that that thinks there car is worth a lot, go to a junk yard, a big one, it is a serious wake up call. Rich people lease because they always want the latest model, it really has little to do with how long a car lasts. I know some SUV's that can hit 400,000. one is the much maligned Ford Explorer from about 20 years ago. Today that is still a known vehicle for lasting forever.
I won't post here again until I read all of the OP's links, I am interested in this subject.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (ZS6f0)

150 Buying on credit is not really an issue. Overextending yourself is.

People who are good with money recognize that financing at a good rate is a smart decision...if you can put the money you'd withhold to use earning more than the financing percentage.

-------------

Too many people can't do that, because they lack the low time preferences necessary, or the ability to consider the increased risk that they're adopting by doing so.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (4ngKR)

151
I don't get the whole "let me allow tech oligarchs to control
everything" mindset, especially from those who are supposed to be
skeptical if the powerful and rich.
The FNM taught them to be skeptical of the old school rich and to love the new tech oligarchs, and sadly it is that simple.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (DpkTQ)

152 I agree with the feminism "girl power!!!" rejection of societal norms mentioned above.

I know more than a few 30-50 year old married men who do all the cooking simply because they want to eat, and their wives can't make toast without setting the pond on fire.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (q8U4k)

153 There are still places you can buy cheap. The midwestern states have lots. My favorite right. Ow is 30k.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021

***
That's what I'm hoping for -- Iowa or Wisconsin, or Nebraska, or S. Dakota; or farther west to Montana and Idaho (though those last 2 are probably filling up with fleeing Californians).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (/XOcP)

154 Likewise, we own our home, truck, everything inside the house and workshop, and have a small balance owed on one car. That's it. Property taxes, insurance (property and med), water, elec, food, fun, all equal less than the monthly rental price of a house that we sold three years ago (the new owner offered us the option to stay & rent from him at $X which shocked us). Tell me again how ownership is worse than renting.

Posted by: Robert17 at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (fDTkI)

155 My Buick's loan was reasonable, but I've been paying it off faster. With any luck I can pay it off next month -- a nice b'day present for myself, and then that money can go into savings. The car is only 5 years old with 51K miles on it, new Continental tires and a 1-year-old battery, and everything is in top-notch operating and cosmetic condition.

I used to be sorry I lost my BMW in the July 2019 flood. Now, with the Buick, not sorry much at all.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (/XOcP)

the brakes are good the tire are fair do do

Posted by: rhennigantx at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (yrol0)

156 134
There's an easy and cheap way to prevent your car from rusting out: undercoat with oil. The best time to do it, of course, is when it's new. Then once a year.
Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:35 PM (Glq7j)

I had the Hummer H1 NH Oil undercoated. It does a pretty good job but it won't protect it 100% - you're going to be fighting a losing battle.

Plus it makes a huge mess on everything when it heats up and drips all over everything - and don't even mention what happens when the damn dog runs under the truck... ugh!

Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (qiiRE)

157 Why own. . . .when I can depend upon the Soros/Phuckerberg/Brin/Page/BarryOdildo/DavidBrock cabal to take away from the Makers, and give it to me, one of the Takers?

Posted by: H8 Marxist Rats & SJWs at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (5DfsO)

158 Not owning anything is a sign your not an adult and never want to be one.

A.K.A "Loser".

Peter Pan blushes.

The horror, the horror.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (/1l9x)

159 >>>My favorite response to scouts who ask me, "What time is it?" is, "Time for you to get a watch of your own."

-----
Mine is:

them: "what time is it?"
me: "ten to"
them: "ten to what"
me: "tend to your own damn business"

Posted by: 496 at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (VJsqe)

160 I have always believed my worth as a person is directly proportional to the amount of things I own.

Posted by: Weasel at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (MVjcR)

161 Too many people can't do that, because they lack the low time preferences necessary, or the ability to consider the increased risk that they're adopting by doing so.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:38 PM (4ngKR)

That and nobody is actually taught these things.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (KbCG3)

162 Spoilers: There are tons of people out there looking for a decent 250K mileage car with receipts for $1000.
Posted by: Moron Robbie

Just sold my 08 Honda Pilot with 248K to a Subie dealer for $3000.

Posted by: Joe Mama at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (WmGrA)

163 One thing people are doing and Mr. Scott can attest to if he's still around, they're buying 5th wheel trailers and putting them in trailer parks built for them. We've had four go in in my county that I know of and every one is full days after opening.

And these are long term places, not KOA Kampgrounds.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (OCTRt)

164 Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:34 PM (q8U4k)

I'll be selling my Mom's car soon... 1997 Toyota Avalon, 46,000 miles on it. Kept in a Garage in Central Calif.

Worth way more than Blue Book, but I don't like the way it drives... so gone soon.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (oHd/0)

165 I remember reading a piece in, probably the SF Chronicle, about a woman who was facing some vast increase in her rent in SF, that she claimed she couldn't afford, and when you read a little further you found that she'd been renting there for THIRTY YEARS and her rent increases over that time had been some tiny fraction of market, and she hadn't put a penny away against the time that this gravy train ran off the track.
Posted by: JEM at August 02, 2021 02:20 PM (8erNz)

Yep, I remember that too. There was a flood of "bad landlords" articles for a while. There was one about some old lady in SF, she was like 90, had rented the same house for *decades* and the landlord wanted to sell. Of course, you can't do that they claimed, and the old gal settled in for a nice long squat. I'm sure they finally got her out, but it probably took months to do it. Seriously, what is it with people thinking just because they go someplace for a $1.50 ham sandwich, it's owed to them that place stays in business for ever just to give them a $1.50 ham sandwich? It's the toddler's concept of the universe revolving around them.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (wAnMi)

166 Things my dad taught me
Your house isn't an investment. You pay for the marginal utility while using it and sell it when you want something else. Having it available to sell is an option.

Take the 30 year option at the higher interest rate than the 15 year note that is slightly cheaper. If you pay off the house in 15 years you'll come out the same. (17 years for us). I lost my job 15 months into my first mortgage. That advice made it manageable.

If you want something really bad wait a few days. If you drop dead have to have it now wait two weeks.

No one cares about you more than you. Be aware your mother cares about me more than you.

Result, I haven't paid a mortgage in 16 years and remodel my houses as DanMa'am sees fit.

Posted by: DanMan at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (RusNE)

167 How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing with all the foodie TV shows, and YouTubers, and bloggettes. So many of the food bloggers appear youngish.

Isn't cooking a great meal included in the Female Superpowers Paradigm?

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DJFLF)

168 A lot of those couples have put on serious wait due to Wu Flu lockdowns.
There are eating the same fatty/sugary foods from ubereats they were getting in the restaurants but driving somewhere encouraged people to walk around the area as well...

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:37 PM (DpkTQ)

That's coming next, "The Obesity Crisis"

Posted by: JoeF. at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (mR6Gs)

169 This is a great thread...it is long but worth it.

@KonstantinKisin

You're struggling to understand why some people are vaccine hesitant. The "let me help you" megathread:

Imagine you're a normal person. The year is 2016. Rightly or wrongly, you believe most of what you see in the media.

https://tinyurl.com/yzekj9qo

Posted by: Tami at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (cF8AT)

170 This has been a concern of mine for a few years -- especially saw it with the push to get driverless cars -- why would you buy a car if you didn't drive it --> why not just apply uber model and call for one as needed?

This push was detailed in a boock called "The End of Ownership" -- https://tinyurl.com/3h8nd83b

Review: Perzanowski and Schultz start off by providing a fine summary and analysis of both how clouds and content streaming work and the implications in terms of ownership and rights. . . As the book shows quite beautifully. . . there is a perverse incentive for many of those involved to keep the whole story as obscure and unfathomable as possible. This analysis -- detailed and impressive --shows how the combination of law and technology works against the users.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (bDqIh)

171 and their wives can't make toast without setting the pond on fire.
I do wonder, honestly, about some of the couples I know. The wife can't cook, clean, figure out tech, do yard work, or hold a taxing job. And they don't have kids. What the hell does she do with her free time and why the hell does he put up with it?

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DpkTQ)

172 I was in Austin, TX last week. The explosion of apartment construction is almost unbelievable, and it extends pretty much the length of the I-35 corridor. Apartment renters do no perceive the expense and the inherent danger of PROPERTY TAXES (shame on Texas on that one, a bloody travesty). Apartment renters vote Democrat. Democrats are socialists. There will be no relief of property taxes, and propertied Texans will be driven into renter-ship via property taxes. Democrats - Bolsheviks in waiting - will not let a dime slip away from them, nor an opportunity to create misery and hurt that forms the basis of their world view. Anyway - WTF will happen when these idiots cripple the electric grid, kill off the air conditioning that MAKES LIFE IN THE SOUTH TOLERABLE, takes away mobility, and requires travel papers to move about? Damn.

Posted by: ErikInTexas at August 02, 2021 02:41 PM (M9SBl)

173 I don't get the whole "let me allow tech oligarchs to control everything" mindset, especially from those who are supposed to be skeptical if the powerful and rich. Every liberal whines about the 1%, but then gives them power to turn off thier lives at will. ...
Posted by: Rbastid at August 02, 202
++++
I think it is combination of convenience, misunderstanding of value, and a pathological taking-for-granted that borders on cargo cultism. Owning nothing means, in essence, that everything is outsourced. That is often very convenient. If my washer breaks, I have to fix it. If it broke when I was renter, the landlord had to deal with it.

If I take everything for granted - if I am caught up in the function as opposed to the philosophy of how things can be made to function - then why own if I can use? It might cost more, but it is far easier and no one ever taught me that it makes me a slave.

If I understand nothing - if I think electricity comes from the wall and food comes from the supermarket - then ownership is perhaps less important then, too. If everything is ephemeral, why should I bother owning it?

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:41 PM (3p5uk)

174 People want to live in a Star Trek world without realizing that it's powered by a wholly fictional and impossible economy.

Which brings up another pet peeve of mine - it seems to be an axiom that the people most into SF, Trek, Star Wars and so on are the first ones to complain about the "waste" of spending money on space exploration.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:41 PM (2JVJo)

175 Not owning anything is a sign your not an adult and never want to be one.

Definitely one of them. Used by people who throw around terms like "adulting" and are stunned by the use of some extremely common object like a can opener. But ask them about cheat codes for a video game some time.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:41 PM (KZzsI)

176 It took me 20 years to perfect my house

a lot of money and lot of work

I got the money to do another but not enough gas left in the tank

so, I'm here for the duration

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (YK4Qh)

177
I had the Hummer H1 NH Oil undercoated. It does a pretty good job but it won't protect it 100% - you're going to be fighting a losing battle.

Plus it makes a huge mess on everything when it heats up and drips all over everything - and don't even mention what happens when the damn dog runs under the truck... ugh!
Posted by: Defenestratus

I'll bet.
I went with Fluid Film. It seems a bit stickier than NH Oil.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (Glq7j)

178 Somewhat related, here is an article by David Brooks about the "creative class" which he argues has come to dominate politics and culture. I'd argue that it ties in, since many of their behaviors tie into our discussion. In many cases, the renter mentality makes sense for a class largely nomadic, faced with increasing costs of living in a few key urban areas, and constantly trying to keep up with shifting cultural trends.

https://www.theatlantic.com/
magazine/archive/2021/09/ blame-the-bobos-creative-class/619492/

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (4ngKR)

179 In my experience there are far, far, FAR more bad tenants than bad landlords.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (6FeV1)

180 One of the next big things going on up my way is groups of lower income families pooling resources and then buying a mansionish place in the toney part of town and then iving in it like a multi family place. Easy to spot them cause 9 cars in the driveway and the lawn is littered with cheap plastic play school junk and trash

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (FgW3B)

181 I had the Hummer H1 NH Oil undercoated. It does a pretty good job but it won't protect it 100% - you're going to be fighting a losing battle.

Plus it makes a huge mess on everything when it heats up and drips all over everything - and don't even mention what happens when the damn dog runs under the truck... ugh!
Posted by: Defenestratus

Rhino Liner bed liner for pickup beds. There's been a huge upswing in people doing the whole vehicle in rhino liner. No paint chips. No rock dings. Mud washes right off.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (OCTRt)

182 The wife can't cook, clean, figure out tech, do yard work, or hold a taxing job. And they don't have kids

Why did he marry, again? If all she brings to the table is sex, I mean... rental is a real option here.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (KZzsI)

183 I rent because it makes sense for me in my situation. But. But you know what underpins that situation? That my parents own their house and that I will likely be moving into that house to take care of them. I have a backup place to go. If we sell that house, it will be to buy a condo with cash and that will only be because it will be easier to care for them there. So I have that safety net.

Any piece of media that I want to keep, I buy in physical form. Remember, digital books have already been clawed back, including an unlicensed copy of 1984 I do believe.

I cannot contemplate leasing vs owning a vehicle. I want to be able to drive 1,000 miles one way if I feel like it. Boy BFF and his wife leasing a second car for him since he only needs it to run around town makes sense. But that's the second car. Her car they own.

I need to be better about carrying cash. That's something I never think of until I want/need cash and realize I only have like $3 or so.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (mf5HN)

184 There's an easy and cheap way to prevent your car from rusting out: undercoat with oil. The best time to do it, of course, is when it's new. Then once a year.
Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales

Many small towns in CO use "chip-coating" of roadways in summer. Poor man's paving.

Spray the roadway with used oil, cover with gravel. Allow traffic on to compress the mixture.

Free undercoating, if you time it right.

Posted by: Joe Mama at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (WmGrA)

185 There are still places you can buy cheap. The midwestern states have lots. My favorite right. Ow is 30k.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021

***

That's what I'm hoping for -- Iowa or Wisconsin, or Nebraska, or S.
Dakota; or farther west to Montana and Idaho (though those last 2 are
probably filling up with fleeing Californians).
**Forget Idaho and Montana. . . . . . .the Boise in-migration is a mess and Californicators and other Kommiefornians have all but wrecked Coeur D'alene, Sun Valley, Eagle ID, Driggs, Jackson Hole, Bozeman, Livingston, and the greater Hamilton Valley.

Posted by: H8 Marxist Rats & SJWs at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (5DfsO)

186 They have a phone, a Venmo account, and an unfailing belief that they'll always be able to access the internet and pay for any services with just that.

-------

This is why cryptocurrency is the future!

/

Posted by: ShainS at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (k/VXL)

187 138 And there is, of course (and as is pointed out above) much more to ownership than the notion of an "investment." Ownership is control. If you own nothing, you control nothing. And if you control nothing, you are controlled. If you are controlled, you are on your way to becoming a slave.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (3p5uk)

I know crypto sucks as an investment but that right there is exactly why I've moved some money into it. You have assets in a brokerage house or bank you don't control it, they do, and since both are fully regulated your access to your own money can be shut off on a whim if the feds decide to do so. The government knows it which is why the current infrastructure bill making its way through congress is doing what it can to kill crypto. They can try but all they'll do is move more transactions offshore, which is where I buy it all anyway.

Posted by: moon_over_vermont at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (CoMmC)

188 I do wonder, honestly, about some of the couples I know. The wife can't cook, clean, figure out tech, do yard work, or hold a taxing job. And they don't have kids. What the hell does she do with her free time and why the hell does he put up with it?

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DpkTQ)

-----

I have told my wife on numerous occasions that if she ever finds a better deal than me she should take it and run. I have told her I'll hold the door open for her.

We're still together.

Posted by: 496 at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (VJsqe)

189 How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing with all the foodie TV shows, and YouTubers, and bloggettes. So many of the food bloggers appear youngish.

Isn't cooking a great meal included in the Female Superpowers Paradigm?
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DJFLF)

**

Close.

Taking pictures of the meal to post on social media is the driver. I don't understand it, but it's true.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (q8U4k)

190 So many "hip" people using Uber, and yet it (and similar services) is being targeted by the Democrats with their anti-gig work bills.

Posted by: junior at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (+oXFx)

191 Own three houses (including one rental), and in the process of selling lakefront cottage. If I weren't getting on in age I wouldn't even do that either.

I also own two Blue-Ray players. If you have one, be very, very good to it.

Posted by: 370H55V at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (UsbFe)

192 >>Above all other possessions, car ownership equals freedom, which is the primary reason that the American left has been at war with car ownership for several decades.

THIS, so much this!!!
They really want to take away cars, or hobble us with crappy electric ones, to control our movement. They can force you to live in cities, prevent you from straying too far outside of them, if you solely depend on the state or mega-companies for travel.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (bDqIh)

193 I remember Clint Eastwoods advice to the female fighter he was training in "Million Dollar Baby".

..."you know with your fight winnings you should buy a little house, free and clear"...

Posted by: redenzo at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (E7vND)

194 There's been a huge upswing in people doing the whole vehicle in rhino liner. No paint chips. No rock dings. Mud washes right off.

Its a smart idea, because if you're actually using your truck for work who cares how pretty it is? I cannot stand people who buy a pickup to drive to the store or work in, and polish the bed. Why the hell did you get a pickup???

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:44 PM (KZzsI)

195 Rhino Liner bed liner for pickup beds. There's been a huge upswing in people doing the whole vehicle in rhino liner. No paint chips. No rock dings. Mud washes right off.
Posted by: rickb223

Adds about 200 lbs., at least, to vehicle weight?

Posted by: Joe Mama at August 02, 2021 02:44 PM (WmGrA)

196
Right.

Nobody ever wonders if there are Janitor Klingons, or Carpenter Klingons, or Plumber Klingons.

Nope, all Klingons just fly around in Space acting like jerks. And who built all these ships for all these ignorant, neanderthal savage Klingons??

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:44 PM (Glq7j)

197 *smishes Nearsider*

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (mf5HN)

198 A lot of people do that, especially wealthier ones. Lease a car for a few years, turn it in, get a new one. That way you pay next to nothing on maintenance and don't have to worry about selling your old car. But still: owning stuff is the smart way of the future for everyone in a world where being blocked from buying things because of a joke you made in 1998 is a very real threat.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:28 PM (KZzsI)
++++
It's *very* hard to become rich doing that. That strikes me as a game of affluent, not the wealthy. Having a car payment you're never rid of strikes me as a bad way to accumulate actual wealth - but a very good way to spend some of your affluence. This isn't a criticism - if that's what you want to do, I am no one to say otherwise - but it strikes me as a bad approach to wealth.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (3p5uk)

199 >>How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing with all the foodie TV shows, and YouTubers, and bloggettes. So many of the food bloggers appear youngish.

Working moms didn't cook much for them, so they never learned. Food prep was outsourced.

One good thing about the lockdowns was it awakened an interest in cooking and baking.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (bDqIh)

200 I have both rented and owned homes, currently own. I think this is better, as long as I can pay the taxes. -some poor Southerner at the beginning of 'reconstruction'.

Posted by: Eromero at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (0OP+5)

201 How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing

They don't learn to cook, they learn recipes they can then take a picture of. As in, they aren't learning how its done so they can do it themselves, they're memorizing for the test.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (KZzsI)

202 On the car loan topic.

I have a Camero on order which will supposedly be built in September.

I have enough cash in my savings account to pay for it outright, but I think I'm going to finance half of it if I can get a rate I like.

I have some things I can do with that money that will return more than the loan interest rate.

The money is currently making no return, since it is sitting in a savings account, but I want to keep the flexibility to pay for the car in full as leverage.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (b6zML)

203 Isn't cooking a great meal included in the Female Superpowers Paradigm?
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DJFLF)
.......

It was but sammiches have become a lost art.

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (v0R5T)

204 Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

Posted by: Me, Not Bobby McGee at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (SmFPm)

205 I rent because it makes sense for me in my situation. But. But you know what underpins that situation? That my parents own their house and that I will likely be moving into that house to take care of them. I have a backup place to go. If we sell that house, it will be to buy a condo with cash and that will only be because it will be easier to care for them there. So I have that safety net.
======

Same here. I resisted for years buying because I didn't want "roots" here and knew that I would have to, at one point, move home on a moment's notice. But my last move resulted in my buying as I couldn't justify paying outlandish rent when I could buy a condo in a neighborhood with million-dollar homes for a hell of a lot less.

Posted by: bicentennialguy at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (IytoW)

206 Adds about 200 lbs., at least, to vehicle weight?
Posted by: Joe Mama

No idea how much extra weight it is. But they are the big thing on Jeeps and pickups.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (OCTRt)

207 167 How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing with all the foodie TV shows, and YouTubers, and bloggettes. So many of the food bloggers appear youngish.

Isn't cooking a great meal included in the Female Superpowers Paradigm?
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:40 PM (DJFLF)

Maybe a handful can cook and they get internet famous for it? But general Millenials and Gen Z can't cook.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (z5Vrg)

208 The wife can't cook, clean, figure out tech, do yard work, or hold a taxing job. And they don't have kids

Why did he marry, again? If all she brings to the table is sex, I mean... rental is a real option here.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021

***
Mrs. Wolfus No. 2, La Sociopath, couldn't seem to hold a job for long (I suspect she either kept telling her bosses how to run their businesses, or she was sleeping with them on the sly, or both). But she cooked, cleaned, and made love like any man's dream. I should have known there'd be a catch.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (/XOcP)

209 my first wife didn't cook and when she did, you wish hadn't

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (YK4Qh)

210
Free undercoating, if you time it right.
Posted by: Joe Mama

Every once in a while a tranny line blows on my old car. That's free undercoating, too.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:47 PM (Glq7j)

211 So many "hip" people using Uber, and yet it (and similar services) is
being targeted by the Democrats with their anti-gig work bills.
A lot of leftie LIVs seem to believe that who they vote for has no affect on the actual world they live in. In fact, when the government does something they don't like I'll sometimes point out , "Oh yeah Sen/Rep/President X did that. Did you vote for him?"
And the response is usually some confused rambling like, "But he said he was a good person!"

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:47 PM (DpkTQ)

212 Set zillow up to look at houses for sale and put a low amount on it. 90k is good. Then look at the entire state at a time. I was just looking at Montana. There are still inexpensive places there too.

The difficult part will be finding a job in some of those areas. I'll be retired, so it won't matter. But I could still work my job remotely. One of the guys is still working and he moved to TX with his family several months ago.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:47 PM (YynYJ)

213 No super hero even, even in the Marvel universe, has ever taken Uber to fight Thanos.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2021 02:47 PM (OhPRf)

214 Re: the lack of an "ownership" society, those who are happy with the new "renter" society are typically younger people in heavily urban environments who lack practical skills, and even disdain obtaining them in many cases. They want a high standard of living, but do not want to undertake the maintenance. Its easier to pay Amazon a subscription fee to tell Alexa to play whatever music they want at any given time, then actually purchase the album and direct a player to play the music.

With all of this comes an aura of smug superiority. They think of themselves as little lordlings, but they're just marks to be fleeced by big business.

Maybe exogenous factors will force them to change, but such change will not come easy.

Posted by: Revenant at August 02, 2021 02:48 PM (qVRSW)

215 I live in Oregon where they don't salt the roads and the weather is generally mild, so cars last forever. Its nice because the car shows and restoration stuff is amazing and its often driving right down the street on nice days. Stuff going back 100 years or more.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:48 PM (KZzsI)

216 I have a Camero on order which will supposedly be built in September.

**

LT1 or SS?

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (q8U4k)

217 Those women that don't do anything? I call them ornamental.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (YynYJ)

218 *smishes Nearsider*

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (mf5HN)

Greetings, your Imperial Malevolence.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (cvNl1)

219 I have always believed my worth as a person is directly proportional to the amount of ~~things~~guns I own.

Posted by: Weasel at August 02, 2021 02:39 PM (MVjcR)

FIFY

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (Q9lwr)

220 I bought a low-miles 2017 pickup last year. Plan on driving it for as long as I can keep it running.

Just recently sold a house and bought another one, moving out to the country. Used the proceeds from the sale of the old house to pay off the car loans for my truck and my wife's car. Planning on living in this house till the day I die.

Still own a decent-sized library of DVDs and books.

The "you'll own nothing and be happy" bullshit holds no appeal to me whatsoever. As Walter Sobchak said, what's mine is mine.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (3Zp/H)

221 >>How is it that young women don't cook? I thought it was the trendy thing with all the foodie TV shows, and YouTubers, and bloggettes. So many of the food bloggers appear youngish.

I think it was Megan McArdle who wrote about how in the past many more women cooked, but that didn't mean that they cooked well. The reason that all those weird recipes in cookbooks or the rise of prepackaged meals was because for a lot of women there simply wasn't the interest or skill to make anything else. Many of those women today would simply order out.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (4ngKR)

222 Nope, all Klingons just fly around in Space acting like jerks. And who
built all these ships for all these ignorant, neanderthal savage
Klingons??
I used to be somewhat into Star Trek and I think originally it was slave labor. They conquered people and made them work for them.

But newer Star Trek retroconned Klingons into just being misunderstood so that's probably no longer true.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (DpkTQ)

223 Maybe a handful can cook and they get internet famous for it? But general Millenials and Gen Z can't cook.
Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (z5Vrg)

One notable exception - my former millenial boss's wife. Every Christmas I looked forward to her cookie tray...OMG...I wonder is she ever started blogging? Her baking was exquisite.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (DJFLF)

224 No super hero even, even in the Marvel universe, has ever taken Uber to fight Thanos.

I'm gonna guess the New Warriors will have at least one character do that once. It would be hilarious for Spider-Man to have to do that some time, he had to take a taxi once I remember. But only as a way of showing how hard luck and ordinary he is, not to show him as hip and modern.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (KZzsI)

225 Rhino Liner bed liner for pickup beds. There's been a huge upswing in people doing the whole vehicle in rhino liner. No paint chips. No rock dings. Mud washes right off.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (OCTRt)

My whole body was LineX'd from top to bottom (pic: https://tinyurl.com/rrxuj5ys). Although it was made from 6061 T6 Aluminum so it didn't need it - but it's the frame and suspension that gets the worst of the salt. I had it reapplied every year but still, the lower control arms were about shot. Then I got tboned and flipped over by a 15 year old in a volvo so... not a problem anymore!

Posted by: Defenestratus at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (qiiRE)

226 It's *very* hard to become rich doing that. That strikes me as a game of affluent, not the wealthy. Having a car payment you're never rid of strikes me as a bad way to accumulate actual wealth - but a very good way to spend some of your affluence. This isn't a criticism - if that's what you want to do, I am no one to say otherwise - but it strikes me as a bad approach to wealth.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (3p5uk)

I pretty much financed 100% of my last car, which is a Honda Civic which I still can't park because I am every stereotype of female driver ever, and I have a 7 year loan on it because the interest rate is stupid low. Hell, yes, I will use OPM, thank you very much.

My car payment is very reasonable. And for that amount, if I leased, I could have a BMW. Yeah, I'd rather own, thanks.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (mf5HN)

227 @75
I am aware of one politician who died with SARS2. He also had cancer.

Posted by: junior at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (+oXFx)

228 A couple guns wouldn't hurt.

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 02:22 PM (v0R5T)
Call us!

Posted by: Gun Rentals 'R' Us at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (Mzdiz)

229 Its a smart idea, because if you're actually using your truck for work who cares how pretty it is? I cannot stand people who buy a pickup to drive to the store or work in, and polish the bed. Why the hell did you get a pickup???
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:44 PM (KZzsI)

I bought my 2005 chevy 2500 hd from a logger going bust

not any dents but the scratches have scratches

but it's great for plowing

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (YK4Qh)

230 We're renting until hub finishes up his electrician apprenticeship, then we're moving to MO.

No way we'd buy a home in IL.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (FyH5u)

231 " Ownership is control. If you own nothing, you control nothing. And if you control nothing, you are controlled. If you are controlled, you are on your way to becoming a slave.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:36 PM (3p5uk) "

This.
I saw that as the real intent with the very first story I ever read about the "new non-ownership".

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (uQuhA) at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (uQuhA)

232 North Texas has had some rain and is cooler today. Power in my neighborhood goes out.....

Rolling blackouts?

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (Zz0t1)

233 When I tell friends who are renters what I pay a month for mortgage + insurance + tax, they can't believe it. Then they get mad.

Posted by: weew at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (+m+uH)

234 I think it was Megan McArdle who wrote about how in the past many more women cooked, but that didn't mean that they cooked well.

It was more cultural and traditional when you had good cooks. Some traditions emphasized learning to cook and do it well, others just "well the wife has to cook and this makes it easier".

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (KZzsI)

235 This is why we are rethinking selling the house right now. We could make a nice profit, maybe rent an apt for a year and hope prices come down and we can afford to buy. We want to downsize but there is just not much out there and when you find something you are outbid.

Posted by: Jewells45 at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (nxdel)

236
Working moms didn't cook much for them, so they never learned. Food prep was outsourced.

One good thing about the lockdowns was it awakened an interest in cooking and baking.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 02:45 PM (bDqIh)

Some of the internet advice young would-be housewives share with each other on how to cook is both tragic and comical. There are young women out there who would like to know how to cook, but it's something of a lost art in much of society.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:51 PM (z5Vrg)

237 I need to be better about carrying cash. That's something I never think of until I want/need cash and realize I only have like $3 or so.
Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021

***
Alex, see my post # 93. Total up what you spend now with debit cards in 2 weeks or a month, and withdraw that when you get paid or once a month. Stash it and grab cash from it as needed.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 02:51 PM (/XOcP)

238 Way back when I worked in heavy equipment rental, one of our delivery drivers once told me, "There's one thing you'll never hear someone on a job site say: 'careful with that, it's rented!'

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 02:51 PM (3Zp/H)

239 *waves to Jewells*

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 02:51 PM (FyH5u)

240 We own our house. You can't rent a shed for what we pay in insurance and taxes. Own our cars, one 18 years old and the other 12, both still reliable. I do feel burdened by the amount of crap we posses though, or rather that possess us.

Posted by: Javems at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (CnLt3)

241 here are young women out there who would like to know how to cook, but it's something of a lost art in much of society.

*

Home economics was sexist, I guess.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (q8U4k)

242 Just got another voicemail asking if we want to sell our home. A "local buyer looking to purchase a few more homes in the area." We get inquiries about buying land all the time. SC is a hot market.
"No, we won't be selling until we're all dead."

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (Mzdiz)

243 Alex, see my post # 93. Total up what you spend now with debit cards in 2 weeks or a month, and withdraw that when you get paid or once a month. Stash it and grab cash from it as needed.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
___

That's what we do.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (FyH5u)

244 I'm used to renting by the hour.

Posted by: Kameltoe at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (sLRVU)

245 When I tell friends who are renters what I pay a month for mortgage + insurance + tax, they can't believe it. Then they get mad.

yeah its the other stuff that gets you, but its not constant. Roof replacement, broken windows, etc.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (KZzsI)

246 The difficult part will be finding a job in some of those areas. I'll be retired, so it won't matter. But I could still work my job remotely. One of the guys is still working and he moved to TX with his family several months ago.

If you can work remotely I highly recommend it. The commute is better and you won't believe how much less you have to put gas in your vehicle.

Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (SchxB)

247 >>Above all other possessions, car ownership equals freedom, which is the primary reason that the American left has been at war with car ownership for several decades.

THIS, so much this!!!
They really want to take away cars, or hobble us with crappy electric ones, to control our movement. They can force you to live in cities, prevent you from straying too far outside of them, if you solely depend on the state or mega-companies for travel.
Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 02:43 PM (bDqIh)

Yes! This is my husband's take, as well. Mobility is freedom.

Posted by: Pony Tail at August 02, 2021 02:52 PM (tzZq2)

248
I keep little stashes of cash everywhere, like a squirrel. I always keep about $50 in the cars. Just in case.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (Glq7j)

249 I sense a business opportunity...maybe I can start a YT channel on how to cook, for the kiddos.

sounds like I'd have to start with the very basics

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (DJFLF)

250 I used to be somewhat into Star Trek and I think originally it was slave labor. They conquered people and made them work for them.

But newer Star Trek retroconned Klingons into just being misunderstood so that's probably no longer true.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (DpkTQ)
.........

I hear Big Mooch is "hiring" 200 servants for hubby's b-day party.

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (v0R5T)

251 Anybody know what time the war will start or which country?

Posted by: Humphreyrobot at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (qoz/n)

252 Re: the lack of an "ownership" society, those who are happy with the new "renter" society are typically younger people in heavily urban environments who lack practical skills, and even disdain obtaining them in many cases. They want a high standard of living, but do not want to undertake the maintenance. ...
With all of this comes an aura of smug superiority. They think of themselves as little lordlings, but they're just marks to be fleeced by big business.
Posted by: Revenant at August 02, 2021 02:48 PM (qVRSW)
++++
This is the attitude of the third+ generation landed aristocracy - the "idle rich" cliche. A lot of people likely aspire to that.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (3p5uk)

253 There are things you should rent and things you should own.

I'm very happy with my library of physical books and my armory. Having both means I have to own my home. We own one car, are paying off a cheap second one.

BUT, I can see the appeal of the nomad lifestyle, where everything is digital and only a few physical objects are owned.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (V6f9+)

254 When I tell friends who are renters what I pay a month for mortgage + insurance + tax, they can't believe it. Then they get mad.

Posted by: weew at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (+m+uH)

As one of the people renting and owning in the same zip code at the same time, I'll share this:

One bedroom apartment - $1,340/mo
3,700sqft house, 1.01 acres, 30-year fixed - $1,600/mo

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (cvNl1)

255 I bought a house for 345k, I got an offer for 600k, 2 years to retirement, I sold the house, best investment of my life.Regarding comment 1, linux is great, try zorin or linuxmint, solid, good performance, no windows or mac, they suck.Buy stuff that is essential, and important to own, tools, weapons, have always a well stocked pantry, food for a year at least. OTC medicines, etc. You do not need the latest PC or TV, but own it.

Posted by: kilroy at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (gsiHR)

256 Jewell I'm kicking around the same thing.

Market is so crazy in my area that renting a big enough apartment would cost more than my current mortgage and downsizing really wouldn't put a dent into my monthly payment.

Kids will be happier in the house right now, but damn if it wouldn't be appealing to double or more the amount I have in on my current place if I sold it.

Posted by: H Badger at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (n/0Nw)

257 Nobody ever wonders if there are Janitor Klingons, or Carpenter Klingons, or Plumber Klingons.

There's a scene early on in Wrath of Khan where Spock and Kirk are talking in a corridor of Starfleet Academy and behind them is a fellow with some kind of floor buffer.

If energy is cheap and inexhaustible, if replicators can produce anything you want, if holodecks exist for any fantasy, if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere and if money does not exist as a method of purchasing power, why on earth would you want to be a janitor?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (2JVJo)

258 I saw some homeless guy on the news, complaining about having to move when they shut down their camp. He said "but I've been living here two years...". This is a guy living in a tent that thinks he has a right to stay there forever.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (YynYJ)

259 I don't always agree with Buck, but I do here. With relish.

Posted by: Earl Schlobodowicz at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (P7Iz+)

260 LT1 or SS?
------
SS convertible

Posted by: Dave in Fla at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (b6zML)

261 Just got another voicemail asking if we want to sell our home. A "local buyer looking to purchase a few more homes in the area." We get inquiries about buying land all the time. SC is a hot market.

Still getting calls for a house I sold over a year ago in the Valley of the Sunstroke. They're all "hot markets" as long as someone *coughblackrockcough* is ponying up the cash.

Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (SchxB)

262 254 When I tell friends who are renters what I pay a month for mortgage + insurance + tax, they can't believe it. Then they get mad.

Posted by: weew at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (+m+uH)

As one of the people renting and owning in the same zip code at the same time, I'll share this:

One bedroom apartment - $1,340/mo
3,700sqft house, 1.01 acres, 30-year fixed - $1,600/mo
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (cvNl1)

If you weren't using such a huge house as an example you could come out with the numbers with the house being cheaper.

Generally if you're staying in a place more than couple years owning makes sense. If it's only a couple, you've got serious market risks and closing costs are significant. I'd say 5+ years makes the decision a slam dunk.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (z5Vrg)

263 Some of the internet advice young would-be housewives share with each other on how to cook is both tragic and comical.

Yeah the really tragic thing is that young couples used to be able to lean on mom and dad for their shared wisdom and experience. No, you don't know jack about raising a kid, but they raised you and all your siblings.

But now mom and dad aren't speaking and live in different states, even if they were ever married. They were sloppy parents and worked all day leaving the kid at day care or schools, and are barely adults themselves at 50. And grandma is hardly sane because of all the acid she dropped at Woodstock.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (KZzsI)

264 3,700sqft house, 1.01 acres, 30-year fixed - $1,600/mo
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (cvNl1)

------------------

Damn, man, housing is cheap near you. I just bought 2200 sqft, .98 acre, for $1750/mo.

Which still isn't bad but I wouldn't mind an extra 1500 sq for $150 less.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (3Zp/H)

265 my first wife didn't cook and when she did, you wish hadn't

Posted by: REDACTED at August 02, 2021 02:46 PM (YK4Qh)

Some women, like some men, are just worthless.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (KnJdm)

266 No way we'd buy a home in IL.
Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (FyH5u)

When my brother and sil moved from SC to CA a couple of years back, they sold their house, which my brother had done the renovations on and turned into a show piece, they put the money into a Ram 3500 and a really really nice fifth wheel camper. Why? Because there was no way in hell they wanted anything to do with the CA housing market.

It's worked out well because my sil's father had a terrible accident so she is out helping her mother care for him. They were able to take the camper out, set it up next to her parents' house, and she can live in that so she's right there but also has her own space. My brother is staying with a good friend of his.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (mf5HN)

267 if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere
I'd love a reveal of Star Trek transporters that they work like the "transporter" in the Prestige (a great movie BTW)

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (DpkTQ)

268 re Cooking, My sister in Tennessee is quite the cook. She says they do not have cooking contests at the county fairs anymore because there are not enough entrants. There are not enough people who actually make stuff.

Posted by: HeardSay at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (SmFPm)

269 A "local buyer looking to purchase a few more homes in the area.

And hot local MILFs want to meet you

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (KZzsI)

270 @ Joe #173, there are also the 'friend in need' players out there, borrow tools, cars, sleep on the couch, bum a ride, never bring anything to a pot-luck. These folks are used to the socialist upbringing that every child begins life within. Everything is provided free gratis for a short spell of life. Good and responsible parents have kids performing chores early on and learning that they have to take care of themselves at a rudimentary level from an early age.

Posted by: Robert17 at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (fDTkI)

271 Some women, like some men, are just worthless.
Posted by: flounder
___

Amen.

Not being able to cook is just dumb.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (FyH5u)

272 Renting is all they are building for around here (South of Seattle). First comes the construction of the storage lot. Then the apartments start. And of course the dickheads on the city council, county, and state have done nothing for roads, water or electric.
I really am looking to get out of here.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (axyOa)

273 There's a scene early on in Wrath of Khan where Spock and Kirk are talking in a corridor of Starfleet Academy and behind them is a fellow with some kind of floor buffer.

If energy is cheap and inexhaustible, if replicators can produce anything you want, if holodecks exist for any fantasy, if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere and if money does not exist as a method of purchasing power, why on earth would you want to be a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (2JVJo)

Maybe he's a martial artist.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (z5Vrg)

274 And hot local MILFs want to meet you
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (KZzsI)

----------

Go on......

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (3Zp/H)

275 From the other thread:

John Pavlovitz
@johnpavlovitz

Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer. Anti-vaccine Christians are anti-Christ.

So now it's no longer about the #Science, it's about #religion.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (DJFLF)

276 I'd love a reveal of Star Trek transporters that they work like the "transporter" in the Prestige (a great movie BTW)

Yeah that didn't quite transport but it was a great film. Very well done.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (KZzsI)

277
Those jerkoffs bothering you about buying your house? Yeah, they don't plan on giving you fair value for it. They're con-men.

The "we buy houses, as-is, for cash" is a big Con.
First thing they do is look up how much you owe. Then they con you into selling for exactly what you owe....in cash. In cash. In cash.

They get your head spinning with dreams of piles of Hundred Dollar Bills.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (Glq7j)

278 I'd say 5+ years makes the decision a slam dunk.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (z5Vrg)

Agreed with the 5-year timeline. Before we bought this house, we had a small townhome. Then baby two was on the way and we moved further out to get land and a bigger place. We had only been in the townhome for four years, and we didn't do well in that transaction. We nearly broke even. Nearly.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (cvNl1)

279 Pat may find that cannot afford to rent an efficiency forth floor walk up in Cracktown...

Posted by: Godwin's Gaping Gulch at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (ZPFIn)

280 I've been working remotely for maybe five years now? It's an hour and a half commute each way. And since I don't travel to OR, I get back all the money they withhold.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (YynYJ)

281 SS convertible

**

(fistbump)

Especially the convertible bit. Warning if it's your first: They're a sickness. Once you have one you will need one for the rest of your life.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (q8U4k)

282 238 Way back when I worked in heavy equipment rental, one of our delivery drivers once told me, "There's one thing you'll never hear someone on a job site say: 'careful with that, it's rented!'
Posted by: radar at August

The phrase beat you like a rented mule comes to mind.

Posted by: CaliGirl at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (LB/yG)

283 First truck had undercoating, smashed into a big rock in light snow before it had a chance to rust at all.2nd truck had 14 years, internal engine was going before rusting, this one is rusting, should grind it out and body putty it before winter.

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (Cxk7w)

284 It was more cultural and traditional when you
had good cooks. Some traditions emphasized learning to cook and do it
well, others just "well the wife has to cook and this makes it easier".

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (KZzsI)
My Mother did not have a Mother to teach her to cook. She was a "Betty Crocker" cook. Still have her cook book. She did OK.

Posted by: Javems at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (CnLt3)

285 One of the next big things going on up my way is groups of lower income families pooling resources and then buying a mansionish place in the toney part of town and then iving in it like a multi family place. Easy to spot them cause 9 cars in the driveway and the lawn is littered with cheap plastic play school junk and trash

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at August 02, 2021 02:42 PM (FgW3B)

-------

This also describes the average run-down shack that illegals cram into throughout your Southern California shitholes.

Posted by: ShainS at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (J18ne)

286 It was more cultural and traditional when you had good cooks. Some traditions emphasized learning to cook and do it well, others just "well the wife has to cook and this makes it easier".
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:50 PM (KZzsI)

Yeah, but not everyone is an italian nonna slaving over a hot stove all day. Lileks has made a whole thing about all the weird foods that were advertised in the past. A lot of that was catering to housewives who didn't have the time, money, interest, or availability of boutique ingredients. So throw peas and carrots into aspic, top with whipped cream, and serve alongside chicken cooked in a bottle of beer and Italian seasoning.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (jOcSX)

287 I didn't buy my house as an investment.

Posted by: Dogbert at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (+dTjI)

288 If they only kicked Hank off for criticizing Obama, they don't know Hank very well. But anyone who likes Hank is ok in my book. Sure I moved on, but as a teen, he was my fave. I have probably been to at least five Hank concerts, but all were in the 80s.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (ZS6f0)

289 Which still isn't bad but I wouldn't mind an extra 1500 sq for $150 less.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 02:55 PM (3Zp/H)

It's more to upkeep and we bought it at just the right time. Now, the same property we bought for around $320,000 can fetch around $460,000, based on the comps.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:58 PM (cvNl1)

290 Most businesses rent or lease a lot of their equipment. Ice machines, for example. Almost no restaurant owns the ice machine. They're nearly impossible to clean properly and while its not toxic, that black slime mold builds up inside where you cannot reach.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 02:59 PM (KZzsI)

291 Serendipity at play...

I just went to the local liquor store and the woman working there told me the Internet was down for the whole town. I knew I had a $100 bill on me (emergency cash) and felt getting booze was an emergency.

Cash is still king in some circumstances.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2021 02:59 PM (BFigT)

292 This is not my first rodeo...

Posted by: Magnum, P.I. at August 02, 2021 02:59 PM (v0R5T)

293 So now it's no longer about the #Science, it's about #religion.

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (DJFLF)

For the leftists, it's ALWAYS been religion.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:59 PM (cvNl1)

294 John Pavlovitz
@johnpavlovitz

Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer. Anti-vaccine Christians are anti-Christ.

So now it's no longer about the #Science, it's about #religion.
Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (DJFLF)

No. It's about lies and bullshit.

John should go to confession and beg for forgiveness for that garbage.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:00 PM (Zz0t1)

295 I think it was Megan McArdle who wrote about how in the past many more women cooked, but that didn't mean that they cooked well. The reason that all those weird recipes in cookbooks or the rise of prepackaged meals was because for a lot of women there simply wasn't the interest or skill to make anything else. Many of those women today would simply order out.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 02:49 PM (4ngKR)

Why places like Blue Apron are so popular now. They send you everything for a "meal" and you "cook" it by following the instructions and putting it together. Because picking out chicken breast, asparagus, onions and a stir-fry sauce is far more difficult than having it sent to you with a picture of what it should look like when it's done.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 03:00 PM (wAnMi)

296 If energy is cheap and inexhaustible, if replicators can produce anything you want, if holodecks exist for any fantasy, if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere and if money does not exist as a method of purchasing power, why on earth would you want to be a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (2JVJo)

Maybe he's a martial artist.

It's teh Poalo's great-great-great-great-grandson. He buffs the floor and listens for who's going on five year missions. He then "comforts" their spouses while they're away.

Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 03:00 PM (SchxB)

297 John Pavlovitz
@johnpavlovitz

Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer. Anti-vaccine Christians are anti-Christ.

So now it's no longer about the #Science, it's about #religion.
Posted by: kallisto

Oh my Lord (said, reverently). Does this doof realize Jesus said that only the sick needed doctoring, not the well.

Posted by: lizabth at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (L3Rsz)

298 Lileks has made a whole thing about all the weird foods that were advertised in the past. A lot of that was catering to housewives who didn't have the time, money, interest, or availability of boutique ingredients. So throw peas and carrots into aspic, top with whipped cream, and serve alongside chicken cooked in a bottle of beer and Italian seasoning.

Sure, and every food company released recipe books for their product no matter how ghastly it might be, just to drive more sales. Most of those horrific jell-o recipes are the result of Jell-O trying to sell more units. Sadly, some really caught on.

"Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones was describing a very real, very sad cultural reality at the time for a lot of housewives.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (KZzsI)

299 I bought a 1994 GMC 4wd Yukon that was a low miles dealer demo car. About two months in I got a call for a free maintenance package. So I go in for what I thought was an oil change and waited about two hours to get it back.

Turns out the salesman that had it for a few months told them his girlfriend had stashed $5k in it. They told me they took EVERYTHING apart looking for it with no luck.

Ron Carter in Alvin, TX

I soid that car for more than I paid for it when Saudi Arabia was buying every 4wd GM product they could find.

Posted by: DanMan at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (RusNE)

300 I sense a business opportunity...maybe I can start a YT channel on how to cook, for the kiddos.

sounds like I'd have to start with the very basics

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 02:53 PM (DJFLF)

#DoIt

There are a lot of cooking channels but one focused on the basics would be popular.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (V6f9+)

301 Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer. Anti-vaccine Christians are anti-Christ.

WTF..By the way.. MS. Lindsey has covid and he's vaccinated

Posted by: It's me donna at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (Zmnko)

302 Yeah, but not everyone is an italian nonna slaving over a hot stove all day

Quite a few of the traditional meals *were* labor-intensive. Thank God for modern conveniences and gadgets that cut down the prep time and cook time, but still result in excellent cuisine!

Posted by: kallisto at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (DJFLF)

303 My SIL was needing to move from a mobile home she was renting, due to rent increases, and asked The Wifey and I to send her any leads. We sent her homes for sale on Zillow or other real estate apps. Decent houses, in decent neighborhoods with a decent asking price.

She found an apartment 8 miles away from her job (when she could have found a house for sale in the same town) and is paying ~$500 more in rent for a 2 bedroom 1 bath than The Wifey and pay on a mortgage for a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath house with a front and back yard.

We tried *shrugs*.

Posted by: Stu Podaso at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (BO/pB)

304 When my brother and sil moved from SC to CA a couple of years back, they sold their house, which my brother had done the renovations on and turned into a show piece, they put the money into a Ram 3500 and a really really nice fifth wheel camper. Why? Because there was no way in hell they wanted anything to do with the CA housing market.
It's worked out well because my sil's father had a terrible accident so she is out helping her mother care for him. They were able to take the camper out, set it up next to her parents' house, and she can live in that so she's right there but also has her own space. My brother is staying with a good friend of his.
Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 02:56 PM (mf5HN)
___

Can't say I blame your brother.

G-babies dad is an electrician journeyman, and they own about 11 acres and a simple two-bedroom cabin with a dry-creek stream running through their property.

If things go sideways, we have a bugout plan.

BTW, your parents are lucky to have you.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (FyH5u)

305 This soft, busty brunette owns a car and will let you talk her into taking you for a ride in it:
https://is.gd/N2OOzM

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (3p5uk)

306 Alex, see my post # 93. Total up what you spend now with debit cards in 2 weeks or a month, and withdraw that when you get paid or once a month. Stash it and grab cash from it as needed.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

That's a good idea. The one thing I always pay cash is to have my hair did. That way it's up to my stylist to decide to tell the government just how much all of that cost.

On streaming music, I use a music streaming service now because I just do not care about owning music the way I did when I was younger.

I am a huge cheerleader for GamePass because the value is insane, especially since I get the three month cards for half price when they are on sale. That said, if there's a game I truly love? Yup, I buy a physical media copy of that. Though even that doesn't guarantee anything what with nearly all games doing some kind of online check for license/update now.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:02 PM (mf5HN)

307 Robbie - actually this is a throwback for me. The first car I bought out of college was a Camaro Berlinetta. I was deciding what my retirement car should be and decided it was time to return to my roots.

I still have a 2012 Mini Cooper roadster which will be retired to the garage. I won't sell it, I love it. But I don't want to drive it into the ground.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at August 02, 2021 03:02 PM (b6zML)

308 you make a good argument but the links didn't do much for me. To be honest, they accentuated that buying is superior. My guess is some who pushed those articles were involved with renting property.

I want to be clear. I know we are in a housing boom that has gone on for a very long time. If you live in the "right places" it has gone on for many decades. But I can't see a reasonable reason why someone who could buy would not, outside of a few circumstances such as a short period of employment or simply disdaining a locale. Other than that, go to where you want to go, and buy. I am telling you from my own bad beats.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:02 PM (ZS6f0)

309 Especially the convertible bit. Warning if it's your first: They're a sickness. Once you have one you will need one for the rest of your life.
Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (q8U4k)

My last car was an LT2 Camaro, had to order it so I could get the Sun Roof and the 6 speed stick. Was FUN to drive, but you had to keep the revs up (like driving a Porsche).

Loved that car in summer, but was the WORST if trying to drive it in the snow, (snow skier)... so sold it and bought a truck.

Posted by: Romeo13 at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (oHd/0)

310 Sure, and every food company released recipe books for their product no matter how ghastly it might be, just to drive more sales. Most of those horrific jell-o recipes are the result of Jell-O trying to sell more units. Sadly, some really caught on.

"Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones was describing a very real, very sad cultural reality at the time for a lot of housewives.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (KZzsI)

They made cookbooks for valium?

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (KnJdm)

311 Re: Cooking, they also eliminated Home Ec. classes in schools a few decades ago. That was a great intro for kids if they weren't taught cooking and other basic home management skills.

And it's not just cooking -- look at how much people outsource other home management tasks, such as cleaning, around the house repair that husbands used to get on their 'honey-do' lists, lawn care, etc.

They convinnced people they needed both parents to work, then set about getting us to outsource basic at-home tasks: learned helplessness.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (bDqIh)

312 There's a scene early on in Wrath of Khan where Spock and Kirk are talking in a corridor of Starfleet Academy and behind them is a fellow with some kind of floor buffer.

If energy is cheap and inexhaustible, if replicators can produce anything you want, if holodecks exist for any fantasy, if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere and if money does not exist as a method of purchasing power, why on earth would you want to be a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (2JVJo)

Holodecks seem to be a relatively recent innovation. Replicators require raw materials, large amounts of energy, and lots of computing power, based on what we know from the various series. My theory is that after ST VI, the various human worlds in the Federation made replicators available to the masses as a kind of UBI, but you get limited choices; think, three types of flavored gruel. Anything more and you have to pay for it. The need for raw materials and dilithium drove a massive Federation expansion, claiming massive amounts of territory and sending waves of colonists. If the colony prospered, great. If not, they were cut loose 1/?

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (jOcSX)

313 My mom is a great cook, but oddly enough I've heard neither of my grandmothers were.

While the stereotype of Nonna cooking a big meal is common, a lot of Italian men could cook too. My grandfather sure could. His homemade minestrone was fantastic. He learned from both of his parents - my great-grandfather was a professional cook.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (3Zp/H)

314 That's a good idea. The one thing I always pay cash is to have my hair did. That way it's up to my stylist to decide to tell the government just how much all of that cost.

Yeah I really prefer to tip in cash so that there's no record of the tip.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (KZzsI)

315 Good afternoon all!

I drive a 2002 Lexus I300 with 180,000 miles on it. Still drives well. I have nicknamed it The Silver Bullet. Hubby said it would sell it fast if I wanted to sell it.

Posted by: jmel at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (bVhJi)

316 Hey SMH!

Posted by: Jewells45 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (nxdel)

317 Yay!

My wok arrived!

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (FyH5u)

318 I bought my house for $260 K 10 years ago, and I tore it down and sold the lumber for $480 K a week ago.

Posted by: Dirks Strewn DA 1977 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (kfcYC)

319 305 This soft, busty brunette owns a car and will let you talk her into taking you for a ride in it:

She's also been grabbed rather roughly about the arm.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (cvNl1)

320 There are a lot of cooking channels but one focused on the basics would be popular.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards

Step 1: boil water
Step 2: add elbow macaroni
Step 3: melt cheese & butter

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (OCTRt)

321 Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer. Anti-vaccine Christians are anti-Christ.

Jesus healed people when they asked Him to, you Biblically-illiterate POS! He didn't run up to the blind man, cure him and tell him to drop his fucking begging bowl and get a real job!

Fucking leftist assholes who think dropping talismanic names like "Trump" or "Jesus" is the key to reaching the ignorant, cow-fucking, sister-fingering flaggots.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (2JVJo)

322 The guy across the street from me lives in his fifth wheel in the back yard and rents parts of the house to two different families. I've never been in it so don't know if it's a split level.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (YynYJ)

323 Yeah I really prefer to tip in cash so that there's no record of the tip.
I'd suggest this for any transaction you tip for. The less Joe Biden gets the better.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (DpkTQ)

324 Piss Hockey says they are keeping the options open for more COVID restrictions.

Shoot the maskless?
Round up unvaxxed and mass vax (graves)?
Tax them into the stoneage?

Posted by: rhennigantx at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (yrol0)

325 While the stereotype of Nonna cooking a big meal is common, a lot of Italian men could cook too.

eyy, wasssamattayou? Look at Henry Hill, even if he is a rat fink bastard, the man could cook!

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (KZzsI)

326 No super hero even, even in the Marvel universe, has ever taken Uber to fight Thanos.

Chalk this up to "random memories from a long time ago" especially since I wasn't a big comics fan but there was a scene of the Justice League taking a city bus for reasons that I don't remember. The specific panel I remember was of some dude watering his lawn and singing "Good Morning Starshine" doing a double take as Supe, Flash, and co. are getting off of the bus.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (nfrXX)

327 Yay!

My wok arrived!

She's gonna wok around the clock tonight.

Posted by: Blanco Basura -(SchxB)- moronhorde.com. Not insurgents, counterrevolutionaries. at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (SchxB)

328
She's also been grabbed rather roughly about the arm.
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (cvNl1)

Like they say, every hot chick has some dude in their past that grew sick of their shit.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:05 PM (Zz0t1)

329 Step 1: boil water
Step 2: add elbow macaroni
Step 3: melt cheese & butter
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (OCTRt)

Step 4: Profits

Posted by: rhennigantx at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (yrol0)

330 I'm still a landlord, but nothing like I was a few years ago.

I live in fear of CA eventually overturning Prop 13. As we add more and more of these renters, high density and low income housing, they'll all vote happily to overturn it, so all those beautiful new tax dollars can save the state. And you know the lawmakers and banks are salivating at the proposition. Luckily we've held them at bay every time they try, but not sure how much longer that's going to last. Of course these days, a prop 13 would never occur to any of these people.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (wAnMi)

331 ala Tasha Yar's colony. This is why, by the time of TNG, the Federation is unable to win a longstanding border war against the Cardassians: Starfleet is massively overstretched, with ships spending decades patrolling various regions of space, and crews operating independently for years at a time.

It took the Borg attack on Earth to force the Federation to rearm and update Starfleet, likely providing a massive jobs boost in the process.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (jOcSX)

332 When I tell friends who are renters what I pay a month for mortgage + insurance + tax, they can't believe it. Then they get mad.
Posted by: weew at August 02, 2021

***
It'd be great, if you can pull together enough of a down payment to make the mortgage note low enough. Twenty or more per cent of $300K is hard to assemble unless both spouses work and save like crazy.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (/XOcP)

333 This soft, busty brunette owns a car and will let you talk her into taking you for a ride in it:
https://is.gd/N2OOzM
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (3p5uk)

She also apparently has a boyfriend who had a death grip on her left arm recently...

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (V6f9+)

334 >If energy is cheap and inexhaustible, if replicators can produce anything you want, if holodecks exist for any fantasy, if transporters can instantly send you almost anywhere and if money does not exist as a method of purchasing power, why on earth would you want to be a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at August 02, 2021 02:54 PM (2JVJo)

Good point. They don't seem to have robo-jizz-mop janitors for the holodeck, do they? I guess some weirdos just always dreamt of doing that job when they grew up.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (DXFDM)

335 lol Blanco.

First, gotta season it.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (FyH5u)

336 Owning versus renting is a tough choice, depending on your age, financial condition, if you have the freedom to live anywhere you want (while working) and a number of other factors. Also, it depends on how you define "renting".

You could rent from someone or you could own your home with a near 100% low interest mortgage, basically renting from the mortgage company. If you maintain the cash to either pay off the house or walk away at a moment's notice, you're in a much better position if things go sideways.

Posted by: jwest at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (/BlEx)

337 an unfailing belief that they'll always be able to access the internet and pay for any services with just that.
------------

I'm very big on having multiple ways of doing the same thing. Or, to put it another, avoiding single-sourcing.

People going all rental and cashless have obviously not been paying attention to what happened to the Just In Time business model.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (AERod)

338 i think of cooking like I think of being able to sail, they are talents and things you offer. Why shouldn't a woman cook for her man? In many cultures, including ours, that is one of the highest forms of praise and love. I know a can cook the things I care about like crazy. I am happy to do it and feel lucky I can offer good food to those I love.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (ZS6f0)

339 For music I use an old fashioned streaming system called a radio.

Posted by: davidt at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (F7Ght)

340 Yay!

My wok arrived!

She's gonna wok around the clock tonight.
Posted by: Blanco Basura

She gonna wok her dog!

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (OCTRt)

341 318 Just hope your not living in a tent now.

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (Cxk7w)

342 renting is never a better option than owning a home in this country. never. the reason is the gov't literally pays you to be an owner, and none of those benefits exist for renters

Posted by: joe fingerblaster at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (W+TLY)

343 Starfleet is massively overstretched, with ships spending decades patrolling various regions of space, and crews operating independently for years at a time.

This in a universe where people can create anything they want out of base materials, with millions of trillions of humans living on thousands of planets.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (KZzsI)

344 Twenty or more per cent of $300K is hard to assemble unless both spouses work and save like crazy.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (/XOcP)

I thank the VA home loan for that. It required zero down, so I didn't have to come up with $65k.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (cvNl1)

345 She's also been grabbed rather roughly about the arm.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (cvNl1)

Yeah...that is problematic.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (Q9lwr)

346 " ... learned helplessness.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (bDqIh) "

exactly !
and everywhere you look !

neither an accident nor coincidence.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (uQuhA) at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (uQuhA)

347 BTW, your parents are lucky to have you.
Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:01 PM (FyH5u)

I will never hit the lottery because I already did when the adopted me.

On cooking: my brother, that utter rat bastard, is the kind who goes well time to cook, wanders into the kitchen, pulls stuff out, and an hour later there is a seven course gourmet meal that looks like it's ready to be photographed.

I can cook but I need a recipe. Also, I stopped cooking ages ago because there's no point in cooking for just me. I hate leftovers all the time and it's just sad cutting recipes by a quarter. That said, the InstantPot is amazing. Toss in a couple of frozen chicken breasts with whatever for a sauce, punch the button, and wander back and done.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (mf5HN)

348 Good point. They don't seem to have robo-jizz-mop janitors for the
holodeck, do they? I guess some weirdos just always dreamt of doing that
job when they grew up.
One answer to a society that doesn't need most people to work is just to ban certain technologies so there are jobs for everyone.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (DpkTQ)

349 27 I own my house. I own a car. I carry cash. My phone is full of music that I own. I even have some real books I can read.
.......

A couple guns wouldn't hurt.

You are not supposed to say that part out loud.

My local paper did a story about gun sales and the ammo shortage and never used the word "riot"

Posted by: tmitsss at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (f/L+y)

350 Our landlord loves us.

Lawn stays mowed, hub rewired the house and replaced the outlets, and he's even asked if we wanted to buy the place.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:09 PM (FyH5u)

351 With regards to renting, I suspect part of the problem is that zoning in many areas has killed the ability of families to rent rooms, or small apartments. Boarding houses, for example, are extinct, whereas they used to be a way for a single man to find lodging in a new town until he could establish himself. And in many places it can be difficult to try and rent out a garage apartment. As a result, you end up with massive apartment complexes becoming the norm.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:09 PM (jOcSX)

352 First, gotta season it.
Posted by: SMH

What'd you get? I have a Lodge cast iron sucker. It is heavy.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:09 PM (OCTRt)

353 Step 1: boil water
Step 2: add elbow macaroni
Step 3: melt cheese & butter
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (OCTRt)
........

Step 4: microwave hot dogs
Step 5: cut up and throw in the mix

For the gourmet touch!

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 03:09 PM (v0R5T)

354 I do most of the cooking in our house, for the simple fact that I'm better at it. My wife does the baking though - I never liked baking because I can't bake the way I cook. Everything has to be so precise, and I like to be creative and try a little of this and a little of that when I cook. Recipes are generally more for inspiration than to be followed to the letter for me.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (3Zp/H)

355 Cooking is great, I love to cook for people. The only thing I don't like is cooking for myself. Its way more time and effort than its worth.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (KZzsI)

356 I live in fear of CA eventually overturning Prop 13. As we add more and more of these renters, high density and low income housing, they'll all vote happily to overturn it, so all those beautiful new tax dollars can save the state. And you know the lawmakers and banks are salivating at the proposition.
-------------------

Same here. The Reds HATE Prop. 13 because it deprives them of all that lovely money being wasted on the people who earned it. And they have an ideological animosity toward home owners, i.e., the bourgeoisie, and yearn to stick it to them.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (r+gTy)

357
Speaking of Star Wars, did you hear this?

The rotten vagina who played the stupid character Counselor Troi struck a fan.

The story is she was at a convention and was getting up to go. A fan approaches Troi and supposedly says you're so beautiful, why do they make you so ugly on CSI?

Troi punches him in the arm, then reads him the riot act. Very, very angry: "You don't have a girlfriend, do you? Of course you don't -- you don't know how to speak to women. bla bla blah."

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (Glq7j)

358 in classical cooking, you judge someone on how they can cook an Omelette. I just them by their spaghetti. Laugh all you will, but the devil is in the details. It is not difficult to judge Spaghetti. If you want an easy one, go to a church pot luck and compare brownies.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (ZS6f0)

359 That said, the InstantPot is amazing. Toss in a couple of frozen chicken breasts with whatever for a sauce, punch the button, and wander back and done.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (mf5HN)

I concur with cooking for one. It's depressing. For me, it's the air fryer. Holy fuckballs is that thing awesome.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (cvNl1)

360 It'd be great, if you can pull together enough of a down payment to make the mortgage note low enough. Twenty or more per cent of $300K is hard to assemble unless both spouses work and save like crazy.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (/XOcP)

I'll take the 3.5% downpayment, even if I have the $60K to put down on a $300K house. The PMI is nothing overwhelming and eventually goes away. If I'm smart, I can hopefully turn the $45K difference into something that works for me.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (KbCG3)

361
Step 1: boil water
Step 2: add elbow macaroni
Step 3: melt cheese & butter
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (OCTRt)

You joke but there are people who cannot do those things.
They don't know how long it takes to boil ater.
They don't know how long to cook elbow macaroni.
They don't know how to melt cheese and butter without burning it.
Seriously, Kalliso should start that channel and start with 'toast' and 'hard boiled eggs' episodes.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (V6f9+)

362 I never liked baking because I can't bake the way I cook. Everything has to be so precise, and I like to be creative and try a little of this and a little of that when I cook.

Yeah, I'm the same way. Cooking is an art form, and its way more forgiving. Baking is an exact science where if you don't follow the formula its almost always ruined

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:11 PM (KZzsI)

363
This in a universe where people can create anything they want out of
base materials, with millions of trillions of humans living on
thousands of planets.
Perhaps the ST universe is like Joe Biden's America where there is an elite that controls everything and keeps the plebs in squalor?

I remember Picard is supposed to own a large vineyard in France. Does he have a legion of robots working it? Or is he basically a feudal lord that is just absent most of the time.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 03:11 PM (DpkTQ)

364 I drive a 2002 Lexus I300 with 180,000 miles on it. Still drives well. I have nicknamed it The Silver Bullet. Hubby said it would sell it fast if I wanted to sell it.
Posted by: jmel at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (bVhJi)

You'll never have a problem selling a Lexus/Toyota, regardless of age or mileage. I tend to buy a car and drive it until the wheels fall off. You could probably easily get another 100k+ out of it, since no doubt it's been well maintained.

When I was looking for a used Lexus last year, there were 11 of my model in the entire SF Bay area. Compared to over 300 3 or 4 series BMW's, cheaper, newer, with less mileage. So of course I went with the Lexus. BTW, same car a year later is $10k more.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 03:11 PM (wAnMi)

365 I can cook but I need a recipe. Also, I stopped cooking ages ago because there's no point in cooking for just me. I hate leftovers all the time and it's just sad cutting recipes by a quarter. That said, the InstantPot is amazing. Toss in a couple of frozen chicken breasts with whatever for a sauce, punch the button, and wander back and done.
Posted by: alexthechick

I'm trying to recreate the wonton soup that a local restaurant makes. Haven't gotten it totally correct, but have had fun trying. Who knows? I may stumble onto something better. I've done that before.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (OCTRt)

366 Troi punches him in the arm, then reads him the riot act. Very, very
angry: "You don't have a girlfriend, do you? Of course you don't -- you
don't know how to speak to women. bla bla blah."
I mean, she's probably right.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (DpkTQ)

367 358 in classical cooking, you judge someone on how they can cook an Omelette. I just them by their spaghetti. Laugh all you will, but the devil is in the details. It is not difficult to judge Spaghetti. If you want an easy one, go to a church pot luck and compare brownies.
Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (ZS6f0)

-------------

Hard to screw up spaghetti unless you overcook the noodles

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (3Zp/H)

368 Especially the convertible bit. Warning if it's your first: They're a sickness. Once you have one you will need one for the rest of your life.
Posted by: Moron Robbie - If you get vaccinated my vaccination will work gooder at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (q8U4k)
***

Back some time now I told Mrs D I had reached the age where I was thinking either a convertible or a redhead. She thought for a moment and told me both would take me to the cleaners but only one would get me a ride home.
I still have my 2005 BMW 330ci. I just turned 50k miles on it. Love the car.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (axyOa)

369 lol AtC,

A lot of the stuff I cook is from when I was a kid that kinda stuck with me, though I do enjoy cooking anything new.

And the Instapot is my go-to when I don't feel like doing much cooking, like after my back surgery.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:13 PM (FyH5u)

370 Renting does have advantages if you move a lot. Turning around a house after a twelve moth assignment somewhere is a lot of work/time/money compared to renting

Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021 03:13 PM (DpkTQ)

371 Ladyl

Clicking on your link gives me Pixy red letter garbage. Ask the cobs for my email. OregonMuse has it.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:13 PM (y7DUB)

372 We paid off the house about 10 years ago. I drive a 2011 Titan and my wife drives an 06 Acura, runs like a
top.

I am past the age where a car makes you feel cool.

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at August 02, 2021 03:13 PM (M+Lyo)

373 And it's not just cooking -- look at how much people outsource other home management tasks, such as cleaning, around the house repair that husbands used to get on their 'honey-do' lists, lawn care, etc.

They convinnced people they needed both parents to work, then set about getting us to outsource basic at-home tasks: learned helplessness.
Posted by: Lizzy at August 02, 2021 03:03 PM (bDqIh)

Exactly. I still do all the DIY at Casa Guevara, and our younger son has shown a lot of interest in learning how to do stuff, which also provides some great father-son time.

For example, we recently switched out the sacrificial anode on our water heater, which owing to our water here, needs roughly every year. Last year I did it, with Junior watching and holding my coat. This year we reversed roles. I was very pleased with his performance.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (r+gTy)

374 For me, it's the air fryer. Holy fuckballs is that thing awesome.
___

Yes, yes it is.

Especially when making lumpia.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (FyH5u)

375 I really like my basic rice cooker.
Add a cup of rice, water, 4 or 5 oz frozen veggies, some cooked meat, flip the lever and a half hour later, ready to scoop and season.
Really good for warming up leftovers, too.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (V6f9+)

376 Hard to screw up spaghetti unless you overcook the noodles

Al Dente noodles and then the sauce is everything. Easy to make lousy sauce, but its also easy to make good sauce.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (KZzsI)

377 Hard to screw up spaghetti unless you overcook the noodles
Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (3Zp/H)
.......

Hardest part for me is finding a working can opener.

Posted by: wth at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (v0R5T)

378 "I'll take the 3.5% downpayment, even if I have the $60K to put down on a $300K house. The PMI is nothing overwhelming and eventually goes away. If I'm smart, I can hopefully turn the $45K difference into something that works for me."
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (KbCG3)

That's the smart way to do it. Never be afraid of debt. If things go wrong, walk away with the cash while leaving the bankers and/or the government holding the bag. Take care of yourself and your family first.

Posted by: jwest at August 02, 2021 03:14 PM (/BlEx)

379 I concur with cooking for one. It's depressing. For me, it's the air fryer. Holy fuckballs is that thing awesome.
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (cvNl1)

I haven't gotten one yet though I keep side eyeing the air fryer lid for the InstantPot.

I get upset when people mock the Kids These Days who are taking "adulting" classes. Why are you mocking the people who are trying to learn to be an adult? Mock the supposed adults in their life who never taught them how to cook or clean or iron.

My dad wasn't that handy but Mommy is a farm girl so I grew up with the firm belief that every woman should have her own basic toolkit and know how to fix a toilet and replace a faucet and stop a leak and change a tire and the basic stuff. I can do all of that. I will not do anything electrical though. Nope nope nope.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (mf5HN)

380 Hard to screw up spaghetti unless you overcook the noodles

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:12 PM (3Zp/H)
like i said, the details. Sure overcooking is the big one. But there is a lot more to it. Everyone thinks they can do it well, but they can't, imo.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (ZS6f0)

381 Renting does have advantages if you move a lot. Turning around a house after a twelve moth assignment somewhere is a lot of work/time/money compared to renting
___

Yeah, the Army kinda put a crimp in the homeowning.

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (FyH5u)

382 I remember Picard is supposed to own a large vineyard in France. Does he have a legion of robots working it? Or is he basically a feudal lord that is just absent most of the time.
Posted by: 18-1 at August 02, 2021

***
We were shown in TNG that his brother and his sister-in-law ran the vineyard -- it was a family business that had been handed down, I thought. Didn't see any robots in that episode, though.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (/XOcP)

383
She gonna wok her dog!
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (OCTRt)

I'm listening......

Posted by: Baroke Owebama at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (Zz0t1)

384 20% of 300K

Your looking at 30% of at least 800K around here, for a starter home that needs work.

Posted by: Jean at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (U/0zO)

385 Being anti-vaccine is being against healing. Jesus was a healer
---------

WHO'S THE RETARD

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (byF5j)

386 She also apparently has a boyfriend who had a death grip on her left arm recently...
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:06 PM (V6f9+)

Boy, I'll say. Count the fingers...

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (wAnMi)

387
You all know they ret-conned Picard to be gay for Data, yes?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (Glq7j)

388 I really like my basic rice cooker.
Add a cup of rice, water, 4 or 5 oz frozen veggies, some cooked meat, flip the lever and a half hour later, ready to scoop and season.
Really good for warming up leftovers, too.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards

I bought a 25 lb box of par boiled rice at Sam's. Stored it in qt mason jars. 1.5 cups of rice in boiling water and 15 minutes later, viola! Steamed, white rice.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (OCTRt)

389 This in a universe where people can create anything they want out of base materials, with millions of trillions of humans living on thousands of planets.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:07 PM (KZzsI)

You still need to get the base materials to the correct locations, you need the appropriate designs. And you're talking about a lot of computing power because you literally have to build the item up atom by atom. That would require a huge amount of storage space.

My theory is that replicators get around that by taking shortcuts. A replicated apple involves a a couple templates, say a small sample of the basic cell structure, a small sample of the skin, the basic compounds that make up apple "flavor", and these are then repeated into the general apple shape. It looks and tastes close enough, but is still not quite. Hence why characters are often fiddling with the "recipe" for favored foods, such as Worf's bloodwine. It also means that there's still a desire for the real thing, which is seen as superior in flavor and quality.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (jOcSX)

390 As a thought experiment, I have considered what I would need to live if I had to carry everything.

A kindle and two physical books solves a lot of my entertainment needs. Or just a laptop.

The real nightmare was trying to decide which two firearms to keep. Literally kept me awake at night, trying to choose.

I'm odd.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:17 PM (V6f9+)

391 Yeah, the Army kinda put a crimp in the homeowning.
Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (FyH5u)

I knew a few senior officers and NCOs who bought wherever they moved as a retirement plan. Lots of rentals to provide income.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (jOcSX)

392 Didn't see any robots in that episode, though.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (/XOcP)

excepting Patrick Stewart, of course.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (trdmm)

393 I get upset when people mock the Kids These Days who are taking "adulting" classes. Why are you mocking the people who are trying to learn to be an adult? Mock the supposed adults in their life who never taught them how to cook or clean or iron.

Yeah I appreciate people trying, good for them wanting to be better. Growing up is the right move. I just can't stand the language of "adulting" and acting like its something you do on the side or part-time while being an eternal teen is the real calling in life for all.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (KZzsI)

394 I do wish I knew how to do more around the house. I can do electrical work and some applicance repair, but not carpentry, and one disastrous attempt at plumbing means I avoid it like the plague.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (3Zp/H)

395 I'm odd.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:17 PM (V6f9+)

A backpack, a tent, a knife, a gun and an ATM card with a lot of money.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (ZS6f0)

396 Trivia: What is retcon short for?

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (byF5j)

397
The real nightmare was trying to decide which two firearms to keep. Literally kept me awake at night, trying to choose.

I'm odd.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:17 PM (V6f9+)

Well as long as you don't let the firearms know which ones are your favorites, I think you're fine.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (z5Vrg)

398 I cannot believe the ever loving Democrats allowed the "Eviction Moratorium" to end and allow children of all colors (Except Those of Slave Owning Whites) to become homeless in the heartless and depressive world created by Trump......

As Col. Kurtz would say..."The horror..........The horror" !

Posted by: James at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (24+Vp)

399 I will not do anything electrical though. Nope nope nope.
Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (mf5HN)
++++
I will do electrical to a point, but I hate it. I am very, very slow when dealing with electricity because I triple-check everything, even if it means running back and forth a lot. Electricity terrifies me, and I treat it with tremendous caution.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (3p5uk)

400 I get upset when people mock the Kids These Days who are taking "adulting" classes. Why are you mocking the people who are trying to learn to be an adult? Mock the supposed adults in their life who never taught them how to cook or clean or iron.

They used to have those classes in high school. They were called "Shop" and "Home Economics".
But they got rid of them because they weren't cool.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (OCTRt)

401 rickb,

Here's a chicken wonton soup recipe you may find interesting...

Chicken Wonton Soup With Spicy Chili Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMF8i7VaejA

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (FyH5u)

402 Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (mf5HN)

I agree with the 'why mocking?' part.

I have taken up distance running over the past few years and am constantly amazed at how other runners mock the fatties and chonkers out there sweating their fat asses off while they run.

They're BETTERING themselves, people. Actively. They're striving, and that's so much more than many people can be bothered with.

Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (cvNl1)

403
You joke but there are people who cannot do those things.
They don't know how long it takes to boil ater.
They don't know how long to cook elbow macaroni.
They don't know how to melt cheese and butter without burning it.
Seriously, Kalliso should start that channel and start with 'toast' and 'hard boiled eggs' episodes.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:10 PM (V6f9+)

These things do amaze me.
Water boils when it boils.
Elbow macaroni is done when you bite it and it doesn't crunch.
cheese and butter melt at low temps, so turn the stove to medium and watch it.
I mean, college life?

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (Zz0t1)

404 I will do electrical to a point, but I hate it. I am very, very slow when dealing with electricity because I triple-check everything, even if it means running back and forth a lot. Electricity terrifies me, and I treat it with tremendous caution.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

*fistbump.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (OCTRt)

405 I will not do anything electrical though. Nope nope nope.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (mf5HN)

You only need to get shocked a few times before you decide that not getting shocked beats laziness and you go turn off the breaker.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (KnJdm)

406 if i could only own two guns, it would be a Winchester 30-30 and a Ruger Blackhawk.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (ZS6f0)

407 A backpack, a tent, a knife, a gun and an ATM card with a lot of money.
Posted by: Quint
___

How did you know what was in my bugout bag?

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (FyH5u)

408 You all know they ret-conned Picard to be gay for Data, yes?

The world's most advanced secks toy? Sure, why not? Lt. Yar sure seemed satisfied.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (HaL55)

409 Perhaps the ST universe is like Joe Biden's America where there is an elite that controls everything and keeps the plebs in squalor?

It's actually kind of fun to think of it that way: the Federation as a bit of dystopia where the elite live in the core worlds, while pushing out the underclasses to the peripheries, and then siphoning off resources for their own use.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (jOcSX)

410 My theory is that replicators get around that by taking shortcuts.

Making the Enterprise once is hard. Making it 10000 times after that is just time and materials for the replicators to put together. And the materials are never described or hinted at being rare, difficult to obtain, or special. They even used just crap from around them to make things in episodes. The idea of scarcity in that universe is ridiculous.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (KZzsI)

411 Here's a chicken wonton soup recipe you may find interesting...

Chicken Wonton Soup With Spicy Chili Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMF8i7VaejA
Posted by: SMH

Much thanks! I will try it.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (OCTRt)

412 As a thought experiment, I have considered what I would need to live if I had to carry everything.

A kindle and two physical books solves a lot of my entertainment needs. Or just a laptop.

The real nightmare was trying to decide which two firearms to keep. Literally kept me awake at night, trying to choose.

I'm odd.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:17 PM (V6f9+)
***

If ya gotta carry it, I'd go small...22-ish as ammo gets heavy.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (axyOa)

413 394 I do wish I knew how to do more around the house. I can do electrical work and some applicance repair, but not carpentry, and one disastrous attempt at plumbing means I avoid it like the plague.
Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (3Zp/H)
--------------

Youtube is your friend (in this context).

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (YqDXo)

414 Too Cool For School

https://bit.ly/3C80viP

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks aka Hangdog Barkston at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (d9FiS)

415 Trivia: What is retcon short for?
Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (byF5j)

Return to continuity. It's when a piece of information is put into a work at a later date that contradicts some piece of information from earlier in that work. Oh that's being retcon'd. It's pretty much hand wave hand wave ignore all that before.

Marvel does this CONSTANTLY which is why they hired *spit* Joss Whedon *spit* who is the second worst about doing it.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (mf5HN)

416 But they got rid of them because they weren't cool.

Worse: they were deemed sexist. And they took money away from other, preferred budget line items, like another sub-vice principal's office and money for laptops for every kid.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (KZzsI)

417 A backpack, a tent, a knife, a gun and an ATM card with a lot of money.
Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:18 PM (ZS6f0)

Yup. That was my starting kit. Only I went with a tarp and cordage instead of the tent with a bivvy bag to stuff for a mattress.

Then two pairs of pants, two pairs underwear, four sets socks...shit starts bulking up in a hurry.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (V6f9+)

418 A backpack, a tent, a knife, a gun and an ATM card with a lot of money.
Posted by: Quint

Lose the atm card. Carry the cash. Last thing you want to find out is machines are down.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (OCTRt)

419 Electricity *should* terrify you. I used to have to occasionally check voltage on the transmitter of the AN/TPN-22 radar: -43,000 volts. Never once felt comfortable doing it, but you do get used to it to a certain extent. Teaches you to always, ALWAYS follow procedure as if it were handed down from the Almighty himself.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (3Zp/H)

420 Trivia: What is retcon short for?
Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021

***
Retroactive Continuity?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (/XOcP)

421 You only need to get shocked a few times before you decide that not getting shocked beats laziness and you go turn off the breaker.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (KnJdm)

First stuff I wired up for the FiL went like this:

Go wire that outlet.

OK. Pop! Flash! WTF?

Now you know what breaker it is to shut off the power.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (KnJdm)

422 >You all know they ret-conned Picard to be gay for Data, yes?
Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 03:16 PM (Glq7j)

And CBS just gave the architect of that farce, Kurtzman, a new contract worth 9-figures and control over the corpse of ST for the next five years.

ST canon ended after Enterprise, end of story.

Posted by: Dworkin Barimen - anarcho-tyranny? you're soaking in it! at August 02, 2021 03:22 PM (DXFDM)

423 Renting Is Cheaper Than Buying, Almost Everywhere (NY Times)
----------------

Proof positive that buying is the way to go.

Aka "please don't leave Manhattan. Pretty please!"

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at August 02, 2021 03:23 PM (S6plB)

424 Posted by:�Joe Mannix (Not a cop!)�at August 02, 2021 02:41 PM (3p5uk)

I can understand that way if thinking, at least from a laziness/ convenience pov, but not the money thing. "I venmo everything" cool have fun when you tweet the wrong thing, that was perfectly acceptable yesterday but not today, and your banned from Venmo, your credit cards, and every other payment system, with them also freezing your money.

Sure use those stuff as needed, but never having any cash on you is moronic (though i guess many of these people are also afraid they'll get mugged and robbed if thier money by some girl scouts or senior citizen's)

Posted by: Rbastid at August 02, 2021 03:23 PM (XwTyM)

425 If ya gotta carry it, I'd go small...22-ish as ammo gets heavy.
Posted by: Diogenes at August 02, 2021 03:21 PM (axyOa)

jah, decided on 9mm for just that reason, with a .22 conversion kit. Broke my heart, leaving my G20 home, even in my imagination.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:23 PM (V6f9+)

426 What'd you get? I have a Lodge cast iron sucker. It is heavy.
Posted by: rickb223
___

It's carbonized steel.

https://soupeduprecipes.com/product/wok-set/

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:23 PM (FyH5u)

427 SMH, spicy chili oil is fairly easy to make, it requires cayenne or thai (or both) pepper and sesame oil, let it soak for a week.
You can also put in ginger, white pepper, or any other additive you think is useful but I like just pepper and oil.

A dribble of that can make white rice a feast.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 02, 2021 03:23 PM (qaiJN)

428 BabylonBee: Australians Getting Ready To Overthrow Tyrannical Government -- Wait, Nevermind, Seems They Gave Up All Their Guns

Posted by: SMOD at August 02, 2021 03:24 PM (RHGPo)

429 Retroactive Continuity is a cancer that killed comic books for me.

Have you read the wiki pages for Wolverine or the Xmen? Their back history makes no sense and it just keeps getting worse....

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, get ready now at August 02, 2021 03:24 PM (V6f9+)

430 Nood.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy (z5Vrg) - The Republic is Already Dead at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (z5Vrg)

431 Nood sooperspreaders

Posted by: 496 at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (VJsqe)

432 You only need to get shocked a few times before you decide that not getting shocked beats laziness and you go turn off the breaker.
Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (KnJdm)

------------

Just have to remember to flip the breaker back on when you're done. I've seen techs troubleshoot something for a couple of hours because they forgot to turn the juice back on when they were done working on a system.

Posted by: radar at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (3Zp/H)

433 I saw Spicy Chili Oil open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Hollywood Bowl in '08

Posted by: Truck Monkey Report at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (flINI)

434 nood, TFG

Posted by: Inogame at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (53oGX)

435 if i could only own two guns, it would be a Winchester 30-30 and a Ruger Blackhawk.

Posted by: Quint at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (ZS6f0)

Good choices. I'd go with my Bisley Blackhawk .45 Colt and a Ruger Hawkeye in .308 Win.

Posted by: flounder at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (KnJdm)

436 I think its "retroactive continuity" as in "we went back and changed stuff in the past"

This podcast has a lot of cool stuff about comics,

https://explainthis.podbean.com/

but one of the things they brought up was that comic book worlds had to create this concept of moving time, because their old comic book characters never aged but had distinct events in time. Like Iron Man whose origin was the Korean War. Or Punisher who fought in Vietnam. They came up with the idea that stuff happened "10 years ago" and that keeps moving forward no matter how long the character's continuity was.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (KZzsI)

437 Retroactive Continuity

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2021 03:25 PM (byF5j)

438 They used to have those classes in high school. They were called "Shop" and "Home Economics".
But they got rid of them because they weren't cool.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:19 PM (OCTRt)

I've seen some very very very angry pieces by mid Millennials and younger when they ask why they weren't taught about budgeting and taxes and how to cook and basic car repair and then they learned about Home Ec and Shop and why why why was it taken out of school!

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:26 PM (mf5HN)

439 I will do electrical to a point, but I hate it. I am very, very slow when dealing with electricity because I triple-check everything, even if it means running back and forth a lot. Electricity terrifies me, and I treat it with tremendous caution.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

*fistbump.
Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (OCTRt)

I know how it works, and will also do quite a few things up to a point. Then I hire a professional electrician. Sadly, my step dad did not. Things like dual pole switches were beyond him. Recently in my house (20 year old development) I decided to install an LED light in the laundry room. I'd done the same in my other house with identical floor plan. I pulled the crappy fluorescent fixture off, to find a hole in the ceiling with a piece of romex coming out of it. That's it. No junction box, nothing. This is what happens when they hire third world workers who can't read a schematic. A light in the laundry room was probably a shock, and they only figured it out after the sheetrockers came in.

Posted by: clutch cargo - processed in a facility that may contain lead at August 02, 2021 03:26 PM (wAnMi)

440 It's carbonized steel.

https://soupeduprecipes.com/product/wok-set/
Posted by: SMH

Very nice! I like the wooden lid.

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:26 PM (OCTRt)

441 It's only tangentially related but I have tried to use my cell phone several times in the last few days to call local businesses. And Verizon Wireless has been unable to connect the call. One attempt failed twice and one attempt failed once. I got two different failure messages when attempting to dial. I was able to complete both calls later but I find it odd that Verizon wasn't able to connect calls when I dialed.

People think the internet can't fail. Working in tech for decades I know that is not the case. Virtually all businesses now rely on "just-in-time" inventory and one thing we should all know by now is that "just-in-time" often isn't in a crisis. I have a pending order with a large out-door store that has been "pending" for 19 days. The store says it should have arrived 4 days ago. But it didn't and they can't tell me where it is. Thankfully, it is not a critical item.

The depth of civility in modern society is a very thin veneer as the riots have show us. And the modern economy is based on systems that are all too often neither robust nor flexible. Break one or two facets and systems can come tumbling down, and with it any remaining civility.

Posted by: WarEagle82 at August 02, 2021 03:26 PM (+Kpte)

442 You all know they ret-conned Picard to be gay for Data, yes?
-
Death to Androids!

Sports Insider
@SportsInsider
An NBA head coach punished his team because 1 player had an Android phone and it messed up a group chat
-
Kidd was a strict, hard-nosed coach with the Bucks from 2014-18 and brought an interesting coaching tactic that punished the rest of a team for a single player's mistake. If a player slipped up during practice, then Kidd would make every other player run sprints, while the player who made the mistake had to watch from the sideline.
. . . .
Kidd was upset about it and made the team run because Kidd felt that Maker not getting an iPhone was an example of the team not being united.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks aka Hangdog Barkston at August 02, 2021 03:27 PM (d9FiS)

443 Have you read the wiki pages for Wolverine or the Xmen? Their back history makes no sense and it just keeps getting worse....

This thread is dead but... originally, they intended the timeline to move forward in real time. Each Spider-Man issue was one month apart, and Peter graduated from school, etc. Then they realized this would age him out of the time they wanted him to be in and stopped.

But it was a great idea that I wish they'd stuck with. We'd have no Peter Parker Spider-Man now, because he'd be in his 70s, but it would have made for a really interesting world.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 02, 2021 03:27 PM (KZzsI)

444 Good piece of writing/thinking, Buck.

Ya know, I've been stunned a few times, like when I found out a 40+ year old man had never driven a car.

It just never occurred to me that there are males in the US with no handicaps and plenty of income that have lived like that always.

Posted by: GnuBreed (FoYaR) at August 02, 2021 03:28 PM (F0YaR)

445 The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is taking sides against AOC-backed congressional candidate Nina Turner and delivering some backhanded insults in the process. A Politico report indicates that the CBC is "playing favorites" by backing Turner's opponent, Shontel Brown, in the race to represent Ohio's 11th congressional district in a seat vacated in March by Marcia Fudge.

Posted by: SMOD at August 02, 2021 03:28 PM (RHGPo)

446 I will do electrical to a point, but I hate it. I am very, very slow when dealing with electricity because I triple-check everything, even if it means running back and forth a lot. Electricity terrifies me, and I treat it with tremendous caution.
Posted by: Joe Mannix

I hate plumbing more than electricity, but I've been hit with 40kv peak to peak (Computer CRT) and had bone bruise from it along with having 120 AC almost knocking me off a ladder. It ain't nothing to mess around with, for sure.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:28 PM (Zz0t1)

447 32 In no world is renting a home better than owning one. Never.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 02:21 PM (Zz0t1)

Particularly with rates where they've been. I'm paying 1.8% with no points on my house. There are no conditions under which renting would be better.
Posted by: Dr. Washington Nearsider, Single and #SuperStraight at August 02, 2021 02:23 PM (cvNl1)

If you're planning to live in an area less than about four years or so it doesn't make sense to buy. On average the transaction costs will eat up the difference and more. Now, in recent years house prices have been zooming up like gangbusters, so you would have been better off buying, but on average houses go up at about the rate of inflation.

Also, price comparisons always rely on apples to apples comparisons, and the reality is you can't buy a house comparable to a studio apartment. If you're happy in a 400 sq ft studio apartment it makes more sense to live in one and invest the difference.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2021 03:29 PM (wGeit)

448 I can cook but I need a recipe. Also, I stopped
cooking ages ago because there's no point in cooking for just me. I
hate leftovers all the time and it's just sad cutting recipes by a
quarter. That said, the InstantPot is amazing. Toss in a couple of
frozen chicken breasts with whatever for a sauce, punch the button, and
wander back and done.
Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:08 PM (mf5HN)

You know if you want to cook for more than just you, find some friends, get them together and make them a meal. Make them wear adult clothing and play cards or something afterwards. Can do it once or twice a month.

I am going to have to start doing this since my wife is mostly a vegetarian, and I like to cook for just me once in a while.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 02, 2021 03:30 PM (qaiJN)

449 Those Home Economics, Metal, Shop, Wood Shop, Graphics Arts Classes, Science, Math, History, etc were priceless.

Today it is hate America, Gay and Queer Lifestyles, Global Climate Change, Che Guevara and Mao were good people and great leaders, Trump lied and is evil, Oil and Coal is disgusting and the Earth cries from man mining these disgusting minerals, The ice caps are melting, All Caucasians were slave owners, Washington hated Blacks and had slaves, Obama is God, etc...

Posted by: James at August 02, 2021 03:30 PM (24+Vp)

450 The county is instituting another mask mandate here in CA. The county is 80% vaccinated (supposedly well above what's needed for here immunity) and yet they're still requiring it for everyone. Goes to show the amount of confidence they have in the vaccine.

Posted by: Surfperch at August 02, 2021 03:32 PM (FFt3O)

451 . . . .
Kidd was upset about it and made the team run because Kidd felt that Maker not getting an iPhone was an example of the team not being united.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks aka Hangdog Barkston at August 02, 2021 03:27 PM (d9FiS)

You want me to carry an iPhone? You provide it and pay for it.

Otherwise, I ain't giving NO money to Apple.

Posted by: Sponge - Saying Ashli Babbitt at August 02, 2021 03:33 PM (Zz0t1)

452 20% of 300K

Your looking at 30% of at least 800K around here, for a starter home that needs work.
Posted by: Jean at August 02, 2021

***
Jeez. For that the house should come with a butler and at least 2 sexy maids who clean the hot tub as well as cook.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 02, 2021 03:34 PM (/XOcP)

453 If renting were better, there wouldn't be landlords.

Posted by: Bob at August 02, 2021 03:39 PM (pft3j)

454 The "we buy houses, as-is, for cash" is a big Con.

First thing they do is look up how much you owe. Then they con you
into selling for exactly what you owe....in cash. In cash. In cash.

They get your head spinning with dreams of piles of Hundred Dollar Bills.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at August 02, 2021 02:57 PM (Glq7j)
Publius doesn't owe anything. I have about $7K in debt.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 03:40 PM (Mzdiz)

455 The car market seems transitory (heh) for maybe a couple of years as that chip problem works its way thru, but the housing market is something else entirely. I believe it is a purposeful attempt to drive the middle class out of ownership. Huge real estate companies are buying as much single family homes as they can paid with cheap financing provided for our nemesis the fed.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at August 02, 2021 03:40 PM (r+sAi)

456 As interest rates go up, housing prices will fall. But the inflation due to cheap money is already baked into the cake.

Posted by: johnd01 at August 02, 2021 03:42 PM (ukNFU)

457 Especially the convertible bit. Warning if it's
your first: They're a sickness. Once you have one you will need one
for the rest of your life.

Posted by: Moron RobbieI bought my 2005 Mustang convertible in 2010. I plan to drive it until I can't drive no mo. Less than 95K on the odometer.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 03:43 PM (Mzdiz)

458 > And not long term... rents go up, your mortgage does not.

Better still, your mortgage eventually goes away. I bought a condo back in '99. Earlier this year, I paid it off. That's another $500 per month I can put toward other things. (Yes, there's still property tax due that used to be folded into the mortgage payment...a whopping $300 per year.) Rent payments never go away.

(Now if only Las Vegas hadn't been so thoroughly Californicated...looking to move within the next few months. I suspect I can move to Dayton, OH (closer to my parents), sell the condo here, buy an actual home there with a garage and a basement, and maybe still have money left...or at worst, a small mortgage balance that can be paid off quickly.)

Posted by: Scott at August 02, 2021 03:45 PM (KEWla)

459 Step 1: boil water

Step 2: add elbow macaroni

Step 3: melt cheese butter

Posted by: rickb223 at August 02, 2021 03:04 PM (OCTRt)
Ugh - sounds like my soon-to-be ex-SiL's recipe. You need a bechamel to melt the cheese into. Really, dude. Hardening glop is NOT palatable. I use Alton Brown's recipe for baked mac 'n' cheese.Note: I LOVE to cook. It's my fave hobby.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 03:50 PM (Mzdiz)

460 Housing is poor investment? Maybe today, but my house is now worth 4 times what I paid for it. 16 years ago.

Posted by: Al Swearengen at August 02, 2021 03:52 PM (yYLdU)

461 I remember my dad telling me when I was a kid, "buy land son, they aren't making any more of it".

Posted by: Robert17 at August 02, 2021 03:53 PM (fDTkI)

462 >>>Boarding houses, for example, are extinct, whereas they used to be a way
for a single man to find lodging in a new town until he could establish
himself.

I've been reading quite a few books written in the early 1900s, and that was very common. You could also rent a room and "contract" for meals for the week. $5 a week, LOL!

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 03:55 PM (Mzdiz)

463 Just was reading how Black Rock company is buying houses at a premium of over 23% above asking and then renting the houses out.

This is not just for the big guys either. My trailer park guy is doing the same thing. rather than trying to get new units he is tearing down old ones, putting up economy units in place and then charging for the entire package. I don't know any of the new people so I don't know what they're paying but I'll bet it's more than double what I pay for my lot rent.

Gives the guy much more control over removing anyone he doesn't like or that screws up and it also makes the park look like a better investment. I been afraid he'll sell out and the new owners will either dump the park for the land (prime location) or raise the rates to extremes to get the most out for their investment.

China is doing this too.

Posted by: jakee308 at August 02, 2021 03:57 PM (wb4G5)

464 I will not do anything electrical though. Nope nope nope.

Posted by: alexthechick at August 02, 2021 03:15 PM (mf5HN)
My mother installed a dimmer switch by herself. She must have been possessed - I never woulda thunk it.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 03:59 PM (Mzdiz)

465 And btw. I know how some here view the "homeless" and a lot of times it's true but there's also a sizable amount of folks who aren't homeless they just are moneyless and can't pay the rent for what they can find.

This is where you hear about folks with a regular job who are living in a homeless shelter or encampment cause they can't afford anything. And also these days your credit better be perfect or you won't find anyone to rent to you.

Posted by: jakee308 at August 02, 2021 04:00 PM (wb4G5)

466 A backpack, a tent, a knife, a gun and an ATM card with a lot of money.

Posted by: Quint

___

How did you know what was in my bugout bag?

Posted by: SMH - Dissidentin' in the USSA at August 02, 2021 03:20 PM (FyH5u)
Depending on why you're bugging out, the ATM (if it still works) reveals your location.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 04:03 PM (Mzdiz)

467 >>>I have a Lodge cast iron sucker. It is heavy.

I'm in the market for a dutch oven. I thought an Lodge enameled one would be good, but they do that only in China. So much for Made in USA. They don't mention that upfront on Amazon.

Posted by: Miley, the Duchess, #SuperStraight #maskless (Mzdiz) at August 02, 2021 04:06 PM (Mzdiz)

468 As long as I am physically able, I insist on my own four walls on my own land, even if "just" a suburban lot. No condos, no townhouses, no nothing. I buy a good used car for cash, drive it for about five years, and get another. I'm about two years into my current ride.

Posted by: Rowsdower says Ashli Babbitt is Crispus Attucks and so will you be soon at August 02, 2021 07:44 PM (hRMuo)

469 Totally agree, except for "cash".
If you're suggesting I keep my hundreds of thousands of retirement dollars in a footlocker as greenbacks, forget it - inflation will kill me. And the government can simply declare what their worth is by fiat, so how have I escaped the system that way?
Maybe you recommend that I bury gold ingots in my back yard for absolute security?
Well, come on. I can't buy hamburger at Kroger's with a few slivers of gold.
If society breaks down so utterly that the banking system collapses, and the capitalist free enterprise economy based on stock ownership and investment profits evaporates, then guns will be a much better hedge against 'uncertainty' than any kind of cash.
But I'm not sure I want to be Tha Kingpin in a Mad Max dystopia, to tell you the truth.
I'm gonna die regardless; I prefer to die as a civilized human being with my dignity intact. And if the intelligent and decent approach to life becomes non est, then I'll concede that there is no place for me in this world and make my exitus with regret, but with grace.

Posted by: jbspry at August 02, 2021 08:12 PM (LKyFI)

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