08:50 – It was 67.8F (20C) when I took Colin out at 0725, partly cloudy and calm.
We’re now in good shape on forensic science kits. Today we’re building stock of biology kits, as well as several other subassemblies that we use in several kits.
My reaction to the riot in Charlottesville yesterday is that it could have been a whole lot worse than it turned out to be. One dead and 35 injured as a direct result of the riot, with two cops dead in a helicopter crash that, as far as I know, was not directly related to any actions taken by the rioters.
When you think about, there were hundreds to thousands of people present, half of whom hate blacks for being black and the other half of whom hate whites for being white. Both groups are known for being armed and bringing weapons to these events. We could have ended up with a firefight that killed dozens of people on each side, and possibly innocent bystanders. This could have been the trigger for a shooting race war. It still could turn out to be.
The saga of the little Malamute continues. It turns out she is a chicken killer. We didn’t realize that Mr. Parker, the guy in the pickup who was looking for her the other day, already knew where she lived. She’s his next-door neighbor’s dog, and he caught her on video yesterday killing another half dozen of his chickens. This apparently has been an ongoing problem, and you can’t blame the guy for being upset. Letting any dog run loose in a farming area is a big no-no, let alone letting a known livestock killer run loose.
All the furor about North Korea and nuclear war has lots of people panic-prepping. One of the things they’re stocking up on is potassium iodide tablets. A couple of weeks ago, I happened to notice that Amazon was suggesting I buy some IO-SAT KI tablets. At the time, they were selling them for $6 or $7 for a foil strip of 14. I followed a link back to that product yesterday, and saw it’s now selling for $14 per strip. A buck a pill for 0.13 grams of potassium iodide. $0.50/pill was bad enough. Geez.
If you’re really concerned about keeping KI on hand, don’t waste money on these pills. Just buy USP- or reagent-grade potassium iodide crystals. Many vendors sell it on Amazon. Here’s one example at $12.35 for 100 grams, with free shipping. That 100 grams is about 750 adult doses, at about $0.016/dose.
If you don’t need 750+ adult doses on hand, buy a 25-gram bottle, for five or six bucks. That’s something like 185 adult doses. Dissolve the 25 grams of KI in one liter of water. That solution contains 25 mg/mL, so an adult dose is just over 5 mL. Call it a teaspoon. Conveniently, that makes a child dose a half teaspoon and an infant dose a quarter teaspoon.
That’s not exact, you say? It doesn’t matter. The supposed adult dose of 130 mg (sometimes shown as 131 mg) is pretty arbitrary. It happens to correspond to 100 mg of iodine, give or take. Someone somewhere estimated that 100 mg of iodine was sufficient to saturate the average person’s thyroid, so that’s what they recommend, whether you take it as the iodide or iodate salt. The recommended amount of either contains about the same amount of iodine. Taking a bit less doesn’t mean you’ll drop dead of radiation poisoning; taking a bit more doesn’t mean you’ll drop dead of iodine poisoning.
Incidentally, although the IO-SAT tablets list an “expiration date” seven years after manufacture, that’s entirely bogus. Potassium iodide lasts essentially forever. It’ll be just as effective 700 years or 700 thousand years from now as it is today. The worst that will happen is that the KI may oxidize, turning the tablets or solution a pale yellow. Doesn’t matter. It’s the iodine part that’s the active component. Elemental iodine tastes terrible, but you can reduce iodine back to iodide simply by adding a vitamin C tablet to the solution.
In fact, I make up iodine standard solution that’s 5% w/v iodine, present as 6.5% w/v potassium iodide. That means an adult dose is 2 mL, and a 30 mL bottle is 15 adult doses. I mix the stuff up by the liter and dissolve several 500 mg Vitamin C tablets in a liter of the solution to stabilize it. I then package it in 30 mL bottles, which I can hand out to friends and neighbors in an emergency.
All the furor about North Korea and nuclear war has lots of people panic-prepping. One of the things they’re stocking up on is potassium iodide tablets.
My wife asked me if we should be concerned about Austin being on the Nork propoganda “target” maps. I responded that I’m not all that worried with the core of the city being 25 miles south but maybe we should stick some iodide crystals in the back of the cabinet in our bathroom just in case.
I could imagine the Norks believing they would accomplish something significant by detonating a device at one of the city’s internationally-known extreme bacchanalia events like SXSW or ACL, but it really wouldn’t mean much. With the exception of a few decent musical acts and/or movie premieres the “culture” at those events is overrated.
I just ordered another 500 grams of potassium iodide from that link I posted. It’ll go into my inventory as another 3,846 adult doses, but in fact we keep a bunch of KI on hand for science kit stuff, so we’re constantly cycling through it.
Yes, it’s a good idea for anyone to keep KI on hand. Just ask the people who lived anywhere near Fukushima.
One man’s culture is another mans mold.
I finally decided to switch from Chrome to Vivaldi. My search engine of choice is now DuckDuckGo, and the email address below is no longer a Gmail one. Still have a lot of accounts to change, and an IMAP server to set up.
In unrelated news, I’m listening to American Top 40 with Casey Kasem streaming from a local radio station. I’m listening to an episode from 1984.
Yes, it’s a good idea for anyone to keep KI on hand. Just ask the people who lived anywhere near Fukushima.
Or Oregon, where all of the crud washed out to sea ended up that summer.
Did the federal authorities recommend taking KI then? I don’t remember any time in the US they recommended taking KI except possibly for some downwind people after TMI melted down.
NOW you tell me!
Well, I didn’t notice the big increase in price, and they are theoretically on the way….
if they don’t actually ship, I’ll get all mad science-y and make some up.
n
If you’re really concerned about keeping KI on hand, don’t waste money on these pills.
If there only was a book, written by a scientist/prepper, with all this great information consolidated in it. I would buy multiple copies of such a book.
“NOW you tell me!”
Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this at least once before and probably several times.
It’s always offended me that IO-SAT sells about 25 cents’ worth of KI for 25 to 50 times that much, mainly because they have an FDA-granted monopoly on it.
“I would buy multiple copies of such a book.”
Can I pencil you in for 4,500 copies?
I can only afford 4,499.
Actually, my problem is that I don’t like people going out and buying preps on my say-so. I’ve mentioned this before, but I get email from a lot of people who want me to tell them what, exactly, to buy. I kind of understand their reasoning, and I take it as a compliment, but it’s still a heavy burden to have them assume I know what’s right for them.
Speaking of which, I wonder how many people have actually ordered the pyrantel pamoate suspension I mentioned the other day, to go along with the other antibiotics they’ve presumably ordered.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019QRUUDE
Speaking of other antibiotics, I got email a few days ago from someone who wanted to order antibiotics from aquabiotics.net but found the web site was no longer accessible. Yes, Dave Folsom has been having a terrible time with his credit card processors, all of which one-by-one have banned him for selling illegal items. So now he operates purely by email.
You can get his current product/price list by emailing him at: dcfolsom@reagan.com and paying by check.
I realize sending money on this basis will make some people nervous. I’ve ordered from him twice this way and he’s quickly shipped exactly what he said he was going to ship. And I was ordering several hundred dollars’ worth at a time. I’d have no hesitation about ordering from him again if I needed to.
(And no, I have absolutely no interest, financial or otherwise, in Mr. Folsom’s business.)
“Yes, Dave Folsom has been having a terrible time with his credit card processors, all of which one-by-one have banned him for selling illegal items. ”
You would think there would be more respect for serious aquarium owners. Mr. Folsom was very patient with me and my browser’s blocker extensions when I ordered mine back when he was still able to use a payment processor. The order came with surprising alacrity once I used the OS’s built-in browser.
It is said that when the Silk Road was the main drag of world trade that ground pepper and gold were valued equally. Antibiotics, if needed, are far more valuable than a condiment…
Looking at the goal of getting as many people prepping as possible, it’s a good thing if individuals follow your advice. Even if they don’t follow the optimal path for their circumsances in getting ready for whatever trouble they expect, it’s better than nothing. And nothing is what a lot of people do when faced with a big job and no clear plan to accomplish it. “Buy an extra $50 of canned goods and a case of bottled water every month” is clear and not difficult. It’s not ideal but it’s a bazillion times better than nothing.
I suggest you do something like what you did with your “build the ultimate PC” books, where you had a number of canned “recipes” for different needs or desires. Here, you could have a few courses of action for people with limited money, with limited space, and with no particular constraints. Don’t worry too much about “best for this particular family”, just accept the compliment and get them putting one foot in front of the other heading in roughly the right direction.
By the way, I got one of your “ultimate PC” books in late 2001 and built myself “the ultimate home office server” or whatever it was called — dual Athlons, SCSI main drive, tower. Top-end when I built it, and it lasted until late last year, when I finally retired it. Excellent parts list and other advice in that “recipe”.
Excellent parts list and other advice in that “recipe”.
Stuff like the mixing your own KI solution. I had no idea that you could do this and save a shit load of money. Like I said before, I’m going back to all of your posts and writing a shit book to sell on Amazon for $1.99.
“…I’m going back to all of your posts and writing a shit book to sell on Amazon for $1.99.”
Screw Amazon, dude; sell it to all them skool systems around the country. Market it properly, of course. 4,500 copies a whack at, say, 20 bucks each? $90 grand per skool system, do about ten of those a month and retire in a year. Buy all the iodine you want.
WRT to the caper down in VA; the “authorities” have a guy under arrest to whom the vehicle was registered and presumably he’s the guy, since he’s seen in other pics doing the “white nationalist” thing with others of the same ilk. A real peach. Assuming they really do have the right perp, that is. And assuming he did it of his own volition. Looks like the prototypical loser nutjob that’s always grabbed for these sorts of capers. Now let’s see if he had any psycho- or drug therapy somewhere along the way.
Seems to be mainly commie thugs versus Nazi thugs; cue up footage of Berlin and Paris, circa 1934. Or maybe that’s how it’s supposed to seem.
I hope you mean a “shit hits the fan” book.
Did the federal authorities recommend taking KI then?
Not that I remember. They did hand out KI pills in Japan. The much-worse Chernobyl meltdown only tripled the thyroid cancer rate in the area, FWIW.
Did the federal authorities recommend taking KI then? I don’t remember any time in the US they recommended taking KI except possibly for some downwind people after TMI melted down.
Nope, but we went down to the coast to look at the dock segment after it washed ashore, and I wondered what else came across in a current strong enough to push a big hunk of concreate across the ocean. If we lived there, we would have been taking precautions.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/06/tsunami-loosened_dock_on_orego.html
Just got back from a long road trip. Houston-Las Vegas (via Tucumcari)-Denver-Lincoln-Houston.
The freeways in the north Dallas area, almost all the way to OK, are a dumpster fire in the evening, and can’t be much better in the day. We lost over an hour going down I-35. We took over 30 minutes to go about a mile at one point. No way to get off as most of the exits were closed. Random shutdowns of lanes due to construction.
Question for the Chemist
Would these be a good alternative?
Amazon has Piping Rock Potassium Plus Iodine 180 Tablets for $5.99
Per Tablet
225 mg Iodine (from Potassium iodide)
99 mg Potassium
WRT the ongoing local weather reports here. It is better to report dry bulb (the air temperature) and dew point (NWS has this available among other sources).
Relative humidity really requires a psychometric chart to discover its effect as a function of dry bulb temps. You will notice that it gets very uncomfortable when the dew point gets above 70°F. If it gets into the 80’s, you don’t want to be outside. It does not matter what the dry bulb is – the dew point controls human comfort (within reason…)
You want a psychrometric chart for the temp and humidity.
It took me about six reads to figure out what was wrong with Bill’s statement as written.
NO. Not even close, by a factor of 1,000, literally.
These pills don’t contain 225 MILLIgrams of iodine; they contain 225 MICROgrams of iodine (= 0.225 milligrams), which is 1,000 times less. In other words, you’d have to take 578 of these pills to equal ONE adult dose of iodine for radiation prophylaxis.
Just got back from a long road trip. Houston-Las Vegas (via Tucumcari)-Denver-Lincoln-Houston.
So what is your theory about the real purpose of the “Archway” museum built across I-80 outside Kearney, NE?
“You want a psychrometric chart for the temp and humidity.”
My bad – and I am the research chair of TC 1.1 “Thermodynamics and Psychrometrics” for ASHRAE 🙂
Blame it on auto correct!
n
That’s it! Thanks Nick
Global Warming done did it!
Thanks RBT; I thought that couldn’t be right but I didn’t catch the 225 MCG not MG. You saved me six bucks.
Speaking of climate and weather and suchlike, WOW!
https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/896774839087792128?s=09
Haven’t seen one of these in this AO; no idea they existed.
Excellent camouflage for northern winters, too!
Racist moose?
Yup. He’s been reported to the authorities accordingly. Just the pic and the vid have offended BILLIONS already. Even the description is enough to send peeps to safe spaces.
Sorry I didn’t put up a trigger warning, my bad.
Recomendo by Kevin Kelly list an aggregate site for news, Hvper, that is pretty cool if you want to check it out.
One page internet
Every day I get the entire internet compressed into a single page. My first stop is Hvper, which is a super aggregator that collects the top headlines of every news source out there into ONE single page. I see what’s at the top of mind in the both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, plus HuffPo and Fox News, plus Al Jazeera and the Drudge Report. Plus Reddit, Digg, BuzzNews, Twitter, CNN, ABC, Verge, Wired, and on and on. All of it! The whole news media landscape in a one-page dashboard. Each headline is clickable directly to the source. It is fast, clean (no ads!), free and magical. Must read. — KK
In his defense, they were some really good tacos.
I can’t believe you posted a link to a site that blocks adblockers. That’s a complete violation of my acceptable advertising policy.
It does? My browser slid right through, I didn’t see ads, and no warnings were raised.
Anyway, article summary: Vibrant child, age 19, put his twin in the hospital when he was informed he’d have to share his tacos. I didn’t bother to read as far as the mother’s and neighborhood’s testimonials about how he was a good boy, never had a problem with anyone, can’t believe he did this, it was all because of racism and slavery.
“In his defense, they were some really good tacos.”
Yeah, I got the adblocker pop-up, too. I won’t go to those sites ever again.
WRT to summary info: they ain’t like us. It’s tRump’s fault, though. Of course.
“…New York Times and Wall Street Journal, plus HuffPo and Fox News, plus Al Jazeera and the Drudge Report. Plus Reddit, Digg, BuzzNews, Twitter, CNN, ABC, Verge, Wired…”
Not the least bit interested. As it is, I probably see and hear too much, something I’ve constantly warned the other combat vets about. “Hey, we gotta keep up with the news, man!” “No, that’s not news, man.” It’s thinly disguised boiler-plate editorializing, mainly all from the same commie playbook. The masses of derps swallow it all whole and form their ideas and opinions accordingly, also basing that on their twelve or more years of schooling.
Meanwhile the mayor down there in VA is evidently blaming…….wait for it……tRump.
This all gets so fucking tiresome after a while. And if I feel that way and am armed to the teeth…..what about the other tens of millions who feel the same or worse and also armed to the teeth….???
Yeah, nasty pop over about ad blockers messing up their page layout. As If I Cared.
n
Mrs. OFD now off to Hahtfud, CT for her gig this week; left two hours later than planned due to her and Princess farting around here and arguing and yakking and so forth, per usual SOP. So now wife won’t get down there until 9 or 10, instead of 7 or 8 while still daylight; has trouble seeing stuff at night now. Princess has another gig in Burlap tonight with the harp.
OFD might eventually have gigs dealing with opioid junkies and drunks. Perfect. Who better, seriously?
Should hear this week sometime about the transcript kerfuffle. Don’t much care and will move to Plans B & C if need be.
Got myself a folding cane, and so fah, so good. Gotta remember to keep it with me, though, as yesterday’s incident in the store parking lot shows; I could end up sitting or on my knees or stooping and then going all the way down just about anywhere. Also a good prop for when I go to see my PCP in a month.
Now watching The Infiltrator via AMZ streaming as a Prime Member, while also fiddling with office chit and organizing stuff and making notes on other stuff and keeping an eye on the ‘hood from my lofty office perch on the second floor here.
Checked out the Hvper aggregator. Neat tool to see the headlines, about 3 of 5 links either fail or end at a paywall or other gate though. I guess that’s the nature of the sources and not the fault of Hvper.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/13/america-white-supremacy-hooked-drug-charlottesville-virginia
if you want to see what passes for scholarly and erudite these days– just a few random pulls:
“voters flocked to Donald Trump, despite his explicit racism or, just as important, because of it. ”
“All of his [Trump’s] racist rants would have dropped him on the outskirts of the lunatic fringe if it hadn’t been for the way that a major political party had spent decades making white supremacy the Republican party’s drug of choice. ”
“Alliances with Nato and Europe now hang by a thread as global white nationalist movements, backed by Trump’s benefactor Vladimir Putin, have worked to undermine democracy in Britain, France and Germany.
Domestically, the picture is just as deranged.”
Barking mad.
n
“Barking mad.”
Yes. You see that. I see that. Most everybody on this site sees it. Yet the masses swallow it whole. Mrs. OFD is highly educated and extremely well-read yet she could read those particular phrases and just nod her head. As would Princess and MIL.
So what good is all that education that all three of them have had over the decades, riddle me that.
The Wanker got its nickname for a reason.
Which one, the recent anti-drug one or the older anti-Nazi one?
re mobility, I’m mostly ok, can bounce around and have no trouble standing up, but seem to have injured myself yet again. I was rotating the tires on my wife’s car* and somehow nailed myself right in the kneecap with the breaker bar. Don’t ask me how — it wasn’t under anything like spring tension. I think I’m just a clumsy idiot, but I might be viewing myself too favorably there.
* Wherever possible I do all the car work myself. It’s not like I don’t trust shops, except that I totally don’t. And they’ve totally earned that mistrust. eg, when my wife’s previous car needed the tires rotated I marked each tire with chalk, verbally confirmed that the tires had been rotated as shown on the bill, and then verified. It should surprise no one to learn that the tires were right where they were before.
College is mainly just babysitting for those not willing to enter the workforce.
So what good is all that education that all three of them have had over the decades
You put a lot of money into the pockets of college administrators and provided employment for a lot of unemployable people,
From where I’m sitting, looking at original sources, and finally paying just a bit of attention to what happened, this summary from a comment at ZH seems to get it.
n
Well then. No word from DirecTv after almost 2 months of what they want returned. The FaceBook chat was worthless because they responded 3 hours later.
I did the Chat thing on directv.com and I was told they don’t want anything back.
So I cracked the DVR box open. Get a big screwdriver… it all snaps together. Nice power supply. The other circuit board looked really cheap. A 500 GB Seagate harddrive. SATA. Eh, probably gonna be wind chimes someday. Or maybe I get energetic about an external USB case.
Nah. Windchimes….
” It should surprise no one to learn that the tires were right where they were before.”
They charge you for the rotation?
“…nailed myself right in the kneecap with the breaker bar.”
I bet that smarts! I wonder if my knee would even feel it lately. Since it doesn’t take orders from the spine or brain anymore.
“College is mainly just babysitting for those not willing to enter the workforce.”
MIL and wife and I worked our whole lives, including through colleges and grad schools. But I get the distinct impression lately that Princess is indeed, “not willing to enter the workforce.” Other than occasional harp gigs, so far. My brother says she’s posting inquiries for gigs on her FaceBerg page, though, all over northern New England and the Maritimes and Quebec. So maybe I’m just a mean and harsh old bastid.
“You put a lot of money into the pockets of college administrators…”
And that has always pissed me off.
“…this summary from a comment at ZH seems to get it.”
There it is. So now we know. The cops, on orders from the politician scum, are on the side of the commies and musloids. Good to know. And as Jesse James indicated, they learned some other things, too. Mainly only show up at the right places, not, for example, a commie college town run by commies and a commie governor, and have much better commo on-site.
The fee for rotation was on the original bill. It was removed from the bill and the tires were rotated while I watched, that being my price for not reporting them to state regulators, the consumer fraud department, and anyone else I could think of.
Sweet! You’re almost as much of a hardass as Mr. Ray!
I’ve had DirecTV for years, and was having a problem with 3-4 second black screens and pixel stuttering during playback of recorded shows. Figured the hard drive was failing.
Contacted DirecTV tech support via chat. Explained the symptoms. Tech agreed that unit needed to be replaced, ordered a replacement unit for me. Same model as before, although I do have the ‘free upgrade every two years’. No need for that, though, my TV is still the same 1080i Sony bought about 7 years ago.
That chat with DirecTV was on Thursday.
Got the replacement unit FedEx on Saturday. Just spent a few minutes hooking up and setting up (a painless process). Connected to my 5G wifi.
Works just fine. No problems. Will box up the old unit and send it back this week (with a pre-paid shipping label).
Seattle downtown now erupting with flashbangs, tear gas, pepper spray and commies who won’t leave or so the nooz is saying.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/896860907967582208
Avoid cities, crowds and “events.” Can’t really make it any plainer or simpler than that, except with the additional proviso that the policeman probably ain’t yer friend.
Got a couple more things done today. Nothing major, but slow progress.
Installed an IR illuminator. After reviewing footage for my neighbor, I decided I needed a bit more coverage. Ordered a name brand illuminator, and it works well with my more expensive cameras that are actually IR capable (and not just slightly sensitive.)
Got some more stuff ready to sell. Got one call about the gennie, but no one showed up.
Did some cleaning, poisoned the bugs in the yard, changed out my watering wand on the hose.
Minor minor stuff, and yet in 100+ degree heat it wiped me out, even with my cool vest on.
Damn.
n
“* Wherever possible I do all the car work myself. It’s not like I don’t trust shops, except that I totally don’t.”
I installed new ball joints in my wife’s car and had her take it to an alignment shop to get aligned… I went to pick it up the next day. Asked the guy if it was ready and he said “oh – we were going to call her – it needs ball joints”. I asked him to go out to the parking lot with me, got him to look under the car and asked him what he saw. He played dumb and I said something like: “looks like it has brand new ball joints!” They aligned it for free.
Really irritating. I think they probably told every woman (and probably most men) that they needed ball joints if the car was over a few years old.
I was getting a recall job done on my Vette a couple of years ago. The only time I let anyone mess with my vehicles is recall or warranty (and I always talk to the mechanic that is doing the work before he starts – I can talk their language – helps get a better job done maybe…). As I was waiting, I heard the service writer tell almost every customer: “we ran a battery check and you could use a new battery”. Most of them fell for it. No wonder they call them stealerships.
We had a local political scandal in Canada (Cape Breton specifically, the island on the northeast end of Nova Scotia) over a white moose shot by a hunter. The natives do not hunt albino animals as they are ‘spirit’ animals. The hunter was uninformed, but when confronted over the matter, turned the hide (and possibly the carcass) over to the local natives.
I always liked working on mechanical things. One of the best things I ever did was to work for a mechanic when I was in college. Made good money and learned a huge amount. We did everything but alignments and body work (we did paint old tractors). Rebuilt many engines and transmissions. Worked on everything from cars, to semis, to race cars, to pulling tractors. It was a great experience that has paid off many times over.
Now, I am getting old and twisting wrenches is more painful. I still enjoy it but I don’t work on friend’s cars anymore unless they really need the help. It may even get to the point where I pay someone – a sad day indeed.
“It may even get to the point where I pay someone – a sad day indeed.”
Indeed. If the kid is around, I pay HIM to mow the lawn. But I did the whole thing myself the other day. Took me three times as long as it does him, of course. But I do a better job of it. We also pay for the routine maintenance on the RAV4 and we’ll be paying yet again for work on the Saab pretty soon.
I don’t pay anyone to work on my gubs, though.
If the kid is around, I pay HIM to mow the lawn.
It is expensive to get old.
I had a new 1984 Saab 900. I was working in Cody Wyoming back then. Probably had the only one in the state – great car but I was always a bit worried since the closest dealer was in Denver, over 500 miles away. Thankfully this was back before they had recalls every 6 months or so like the cars today seem to have. It was a great car – had it for 10 years of trouble free service and fun.
It had significant turbo lag – like stretching a big rubber band. Once you got familiar with it, it was a great car for messing with people that thought they had fast V8s.
It was a peak of 96 F (dry bulb) with a dew point of 77 F today here down by the river in the Land of Sugar. Mr. Nick lives over in the heat island and, away from the river. We get a double benefit here. But it is freaking muggy right now.
“I had a new 1984 Saab 900.”
This one is a late 90s yellow convertible. Only 30 came to the U.S. that year, and there are only two in Vermont; I met the other owner a couple of weeks ago, as luck would have it, at the post office just around the corner. She lives in the next town over. Had her over to look at ours; we paid $4k for it and have since put another $4k into it. Fun car in the summer but damn, one thing after another. Wife just HAD to have it. And I just HAVE to have more gubs; I figure $8k worth of them. All I really need/want now is a good solid .308 semi-auto.
“It is expensive to get old.”
You ain’t lyin’, Junior!
The cane today was 30 bucks. Vitamin supplements were nearly $100 when I got them all. Exercise mat another 30 bucks. And we both go through Aleve and Ibuprofin for the usual never-ending assortment of aches, pains, bumps and bruises. She’s also gotten clobbered by vicious spider bites lately that take weeks to heal. They don’t bother me for some reason. Too mean and too toxic, probably.
Mr. Wizard says hello department:
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2017/08/13/preparing-for-nuclear-disaster/
What, me worry?
My biggest worries here are a bitterly cold and snowy winter full of blizzards and ice storms for months with no power, plus local goblins trying to steal our shit. I am taking steps accordingly for these possibilities.
Lynn, yep 77°F dew point is well into the discomfort zone!
Dave, it is fun to drive a Saab! At least, you are not one of the lemmings right?
“Dave, it is fun to drive a Saab!”
Yep, esp. on rural Vermont roads over hill and dale with the top down and no other traffic for dozens of miles. With long red hair blowing in the breeze….mine…now longer than hers….
Her Saab is yellow and she got a vanity plate “MELYLO.” Haha.
It is interesting that record dew points are not all in the south – I live within an hour or so of Appleton, WI. It can get very nasty in the upper Midwest also. But nothing like Saudi- I can’t comprehend a dew point that high. This is from Wikipedia:
Extreme values[edit]
A dew point of 33 °C (91 °F) was observed at 14:00 EDT on July 12, 1987, in Melbourne, Florida. A dew point of 32 °C (90 °F) has been observed in the United States on at least two other occasions: Appleton, Wisconsin, at 17:00 CDT on July 13, 1995, and New Orleans Naval Air Station at 17:00 CDT on July 30, 1987. A dew point of 35 °C (95 °F) was observed at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, at 15:00 AST on July 8, 2003, which caused the heat index to reach 81 °C (178 °F), the highest value recorded.
I was in Abu Dahbi working and had dinner with my host’s family. His kids had been at a sleepover at friends house. I asked the son if they’d gone swimming. He answered, “No, it was too cold.” Outdoor temps were in the high 100 and teens…. Probably 117F iirc.
But it’s a dry heat……..
n
Pretty funny. When I was working for Uncle in Maine, several of us drove down to Bah Hahbuh in June and went swimming near Seal Pool or something like that, I forget. We turned blue. It was exhilarating. To say the least.
And they have the Penguin Plunge for charity stuff here in Vermont off the dock in Burlap every winter. The Boston Brownies do one down there, too; been going on for decades.
Abu Dahbi woulda been like a hot tub to us.
The persian gulf felt like bathwater, warm to the touch. Clear as glass too. I was expecting something quite different, having seen the Fires Of Kuwait movie…
n
Charlottesville: The MSM is, of course, only concentrating on the evil deeds of the “white nationalists”. The ZH article is likely a lot closer to the truth. That said, it’s bad strategy (if the alt-right has a strategy) to allow crazies like the KKK to be the most visible aspect of a much more broadly based movement.
“Princess is indeed, “not willing to enter the workforce.” Sorry to say, but that’s been evident from your comments for a couple of years now.
I see this kind of failure to launch happening a lot. A friend whose older son is on his third degree program, having failed out (or bailed out) of the first two. Now in his mid- to late-20s, he’s still living on daddy’s dime.
The thing is: this is only possible if the parents enable it. Will Mrs. OFD agree to cut the umbilical cord? As of <>, no more money? The trick is: there can be no exceptions, no “just this once” or “mom, I really need it”…
Here’s hoping this never becomes an issue with our youngling in college. Probably won’t, because he’s heard us discussing our friends’ kids, and he knows what we think.
Does it make a difference? Conservatives, meaning anyone not slavishly hanging on Bernie or Hillary’s every word, were already called nazis, racists, haters, and every other epithet in the book. They were already subject to death threats, job loss, and attacks at gatherings. Law enforcement — permits, police protection, police stepping in only when conservatives fight back, investigation into funding, threats of arresting organizers — was already entirely biased.
You’re almost as much of a hardass as Mr. Ray!
Coming back from a football game on Friday I encountered a massive DUI check point.
Officer: You had anything to drink?
Me: Yes.
Officer: How much?
Me: 32 ounces.
Officer: Were you drinking beer?
Me: No.
Officer: What were you drinking?
Me: Water.
Officer: No alcohol?
Me: Correct.
Officer: Why did you say you were drinking when you were not?
Me: You asked if I had anything to drink. I did. Your question did not qualify as to what.
Officer: You are being a jerk.
Me: No, I am answering your questions with explicit answers.
Officer: I could have you tested for blood alcohol level.
Me: Yes, you could.
Officer: Have a nice day.
They need to rephrase their questions.
They did have two vehicles pulled over with the drivers outside the vehicles. The expression on the driver’s face did show any expressions of joy. I personally hope they caught a lot of people and bust their asses to the wall.
Brad wrote:
The thing is: this is only possible if the parents enable it. Will Mrs. OFD agree to cut the umbilical cord? As of , no more money? The trick is: there can be no exceptions, no “just this once” or “mom, I really need it”…
Doesn’t work. Grannie bails her out then asks the OFDs for reimbursement.
Make very clear to Grannie that they won’t reimburse her.
It’s long past time that this young woman stand on her own feet.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Civil War has started.
Doesn’t Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren look (and sound) like Hitler in drag when she is at the microphone. Yes, that is a statement, not a question.
The 2018 elections will be “very interesting” with full blown conflict occurring for 2020. I predict Martial Law will be imposed nationally.
I don’t recall seeing hIllary the last few days, since she declared for the priesthood. Someone must have sprinkled Holy Water on her and she melted 😉
Doesn’t work. Grannie bails her out then asks the OFDs for reimbursement.
“No” is a complete sentence. Explain it to her in advance, then do it.
Seriously, do people not see how harmful it is, to support this perpetual dependence in their adult children?
Sorry, but this is one of my pet peeves. I had a cousin like this. His mother could never say no, until her husband took her name off all the accounts and credit cards. Then he started begging various family members for money. He was a charismatic guy, and could spin sob stories to break hearts of stone. He got away with it for years before people started comparing notes; we’re a pretty close-knit family, and he suckered a lot of people out of money they couldn’t really afford.
“That said, it’s bad strategy (if the alt-right has a strategy) to allow crazies like the KKK to be the most visible aspect of a much more broadly based movement.”
This statement deserves thought and consideration. I’m running errands most of the day, we’ll see if I get time.
Aesop has some strong feelings about it: http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/charlottesville.html
I’d say there are benefits to having someone stand up. They may not be what you think at first glance. There are def dis-advantages to having it be white supremacists, but only the most radical of groups are willing to step up at this point (on either side.) It’s a bit like the Tea Party protests, in that the vast majority of white middle america is busy living their lives, but that continues to change as decades of economic planning and manipulation come to fruition.
n
“Seriously, do people not see how harmful it is, to support this perpetual dependence in their adult children?”
Oh, I get it, alright. I’ll have to have another serious talk with Mrs. OFD when she gets back and then keep reinforcing it through the fall semester. We can’t keep this up indefinitely. She and GG DOTE on every little thing with Princess, 180 degrees different from how they were with our son; mostly inexplicable to me except for the fem angle. If we cut her off, GG takes up the slack and then we gotta pay GG back; I want that to STOP. She’s got this coming semester and then apparently one more course after that, which means we gotta pay for the whole year, of course, funny how that worked out. I will ask about this too; hey, take a full load PLUS this course THIS semester and FINISH UP by Xmas. Work your ass off! Stay at the school all semester and work your ass off!!! So more talks with wife and then a three-way with her and GG ASAP. Countless times bills, taxes and house and car stuff not paid because of the ongoing seven-year BA program with summers of travel, entertainment, etc. When this is brought up, it gets turned around on me that I’ve been unemployed so wife has been supporting us ALL and she’s SICK of it! Can’t use that as much anymore, though, so we’ll see.
Fun times with family! Let this be a lesson/warning to those of you young whippersnappers out there with young chillunz; your day is coming!
“There are def dis-advantages to having it be white supremacists, but only the most radical of groups are willing to step up at this point (on either side.)”
Yeah, it kinda sucks in one way, but hell, these are the only guys standing up and pushing back. And they still got pantsed down there, thanks to LE collusion and betrayal, on orders from the local political commissars. It’s getting to the point of “No enemies to the Right.” Which might wake up Mr. and Mrs. Boobus Americanus as their own situations become increasingly untenable.
“Me: You asked if I had anything to drink. I did. Your question did not qualify as to what.”
I agree that a lot of cops are dicks nowadays and overstep their authority, etc., and I also don’t like checkpoints and suchlike to stop mostly law-abiding citizens in order to nail a few drunks and junkies, but recognize it might prevent some carnage somewhere once in a while. I tend to think, however, it’s mostly theater, like the TSA bullshit at the airports.
That said; I can attest that a tired and generally annoyed cop gets a guy like Mr. Ray and is to say the least, not gonna be favorably disposed. To make a point and bust his chops out there can result in finding oneself on the side of the road, cuffed, and waiting for “the wagon.” They can always find something to bust us; why give ’em the chance? On the other hand, I think it’s OK to stand up when they’re abusing their authority; this guy sounded like he was just trying to get through the day while dealing with a line of pissed-off motorists. If it was me, I’d just go with the flow and GTFO of there ASAP. Later for busting chops; they have gubs and badges. I have a gub, too, but don’t necessarily wanna do the gunfight-in-the-street thing with them. Yet.
“gunfight-in-the-street thing”
gubfight-in-the-street thing
FIFY.
“gubfight-in-the-street thing”
comes to that, you better have a plan for the body cams and dash cams….
n
To make a point and bust his chops out there can result in finding oneself on the side of the road, cuffed, and waiting for “the wagon.”
That thought crossed my mind. Would also not put it beyond them to “find” some drugs they planted just to get even if it came to a vehicle search. But my experience is that you answer the question as succinctly as possible using as few words as possible. Do not volunteer any information no matter how trivial. If I had said no to the question “You had anything to drink?” when I had an open water bottle in the truck that may have been grounds for further searching as I clearly had been drinking. So I answered the only possible correct answer to the question.
“I have not been drinking alcohol, Officer Fife” is correct, and got you harassed.
“So I answered the only possible correct answer to the question.”
So basically a lose-lose for us Mundanes. Potentially damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. See what they do there? Be VERY careful when responding to cop questions.
Brad wrote:
“I had a cousin like this.”
I had an (ex) brother in law like this. He developed a booze and gambling addiction and blew over $600k. Would tell sob stories to my mum, brother, neighbours, church ($20k), customers, you name it. He always insisted that his wife not be told.
He never asked me for money, not that he would have got any. My sister doesn’t believe in divorce but she had to divorce him to stop him destroying her financial position. He’s ostracised from just about everyone now.
“Seriously, do people not see how harmful it is, to support this perpetual dependence in their adult children?”
Oh, I get it, alright. I’ll have to have another serious talk with Mrs. OFD when she gets back and then keep reinforcing it through the fall semester. We can’t keep this up indefinitely. She and GG DOTE on every little thing with Princess, 180 degrees different from how they were with our son; mostly inexplicable to me except for the fem angle. If we cut her off, GG takes up the slack and then we gotta pay GG back; I want that to STOP.
Oh, don’t you love living the dream ? My daughter is costing me one to two thousand per month with no end in sight. I am starting to reach the end of my rope. The daughter needs help but the wife is enabling her. I have no freedom whatsoever as we are tied down taking care of her. Of course, the latest is that the daughter wants to move to an assisted living center and have me pay for it. That’s not gonna happen.
As the song goes, you cannot change anyone else so the only person that you can change is yourself.
Is your daughter eligible for SS disability?
Doesn’t work. Grannie bails her out then asks the OFDs for reimbursement.
“No” is a complete sentence. Explain it to her in advance, then do it.
You think that these are rational people. They are not. They will continue their enablement until something bad happens.
To repeat myself, as the song goes, you cannot change anyone else so the only person that you can change is yourself.
Is your daughter eligible for SS disability?
Not until the wife or I die. The daughter did not work long enough to get eligibility so there has to be a listed triggering factor. If she had worked long enough to get eligibility then we probably could get her SS disability with a lawyer’s help.
Lyme disease is not a listed triggering factor for SS disablity. Several people are suing SS over this issue but the prospect is grim.
I might could get her on Medicaid which is dadgum difficult here in Texas. But that starts several balls rolling that I do not want to deal with right now. And, it limits our medical options severely. I actually had a very heated argument with my dad about this in July.
IIR your situation correctly, your daughter doesn’t have Lyme Disease, per se. IOW, no antibodies, culturable bacteria, or other evidence of an active infection. Instead, it sounds like she has systemic damage that was caused by the original active Lyme infection. IIUC, no medical authorities recognize that syndrome, which puts her and you in a very difficult situation.
I wasn’t aware that there was a timed eligibility requirement for SS Disability. I thought even one payment into the SS system made one eligible.
I’m in better shape than Mr. Lynn WRT the medical situation but it’s costing us pretty much the same per month. Our daughter is pretty effin healthy and solid and very well-fed and strong as an ox so IMHO, working on a farm or in a factory or mine would not be out of the question.
And I’m afraid Mr. Lynn is right:
“You think that these are rational people. They are not. They will continue their enablement until something bad happens.”
Judging by the way they all continue to slurp down the socialist bathwater, I’m afraid I’m screwed, until, as he says, something bad happens. Our generation enabling the Entitled Generation, what, forever??? As has been said, we’re not doing them any favors in the short run or the long run.
Change myself? I’ve rung through a bunch of changes over 64 years so far, dunno what else I can do. My brother says quit worrying about it and just take care of my own chit. Yeah, but I’m responsible for their lives and safety to a point; another fine line to walk, when they don’t wanna listen. Ever. Well, a little bit lately with wife, as we both get older and she sees more often that the old fascist prick is right some of the time.
@OFD: “She and GG DOTE on every little thing with Princess, 180 degrees different from how they were with our son” At a guess, living vicariously, a life that they wish they could have lived?
“…then we gotta pay GG back”. Um, no. She doesn’t get to spend anyone’s money but her own. She will stop, at latest, when she doesn’t have any more. I know, easy for me to say…and you’ve got to live in the family. Good luck with the discussions :-/
I wasn’t aware that there was a timed eligibility requirement for SS Disability. I thought even one payment into the SS system made one eligible.
Only if one of your parents has passed away. I guess the theory is that if both of your parents are still alive then they should take of you. Not a bad theory in practicality but certain groups have managed to get around it. We are not in those groups.
Of course, I could work the angle that the daughter is 1/8th Cherokee. I would just have to prove it. That is easier said than done since the wife’s maternal grandparents hid their heritage and even changed their names in the 1920s from what I can tell.
“At a guess, living vicariously, a life that they wish they could have lived?”
That could well be a factor; they’re all heavy artistic types, but GG and wife had to WORK much of the time, thus not allowing any outlet for creative expression until they got a lot older. Whereas darling Princess gets to do it in the prime of her life. Good point, hadn’t really thought of that.
“She doesn’t get to spend anyone’s money but her own. She will stop, at latest, when she doesn’t have any more.”
True; easier said than done, of course. Wife has borrowed money from her in the past when her pay checks didn’t show up on time, so as to finance this or that semester of the seven-year BA program. And almost every one of my SS and VA checks so far has gone to one or the other of them because of that.
To put the frosting on the cake, GG’s cottage up in northern NB got whacked pretty good during one of the winter-spring storms off the ocean and now needs major roof repairs. Thankfully it’s a small building, but apparently we’re covering most of that cost from here, thus now taking care of two houses before we’ve taken ownership of the second one.
And I see another $600 was taken from the bank’s ATM yesterday while Princess was here. Leaving us with a couple of hundred. This has been the M.O. for many years now. We can’t pay bills or taxes or do much on the house because, of course, I was laid off and then couldn’t find anything else, and we have the seven-year BA thing ongoing. Meanwhile Princess was off to work a gig last night down in Burlap and rake in some under-the-table cash. Seems like the only one making out up here is her.
But as my brother and I have cause to know; we could each pull down six figures per WEEK and they’d still find a way to blow it all faster than we can make it. So why bother anymore?
/sarcasm on/
lynn, I am sure there is some back alley somewhere where you could get a set of documents that show your daughter is not really your daughter and is really an illegal from just about anywhere. Then she would get all the gooberment benefits she wants, from an Obuttwad Phone to a nice condo plus all the cash she needs.
/sarcasm off/
My 2-cents on a great contributor to our current mess: first the destruction of the traditional family and second the disappearance of the multi-generational household.
You can add to that an education system that no longer teaches how to learn but what to learn.
Finally the destruction of all religious values. Sure we have lots of churches, anybody can start one. But NONE really do true good works, just token window-dressing feel-good jazz.
To put the frosting on the cake, GG’s cottage up in northern NB got whacked pretty good during one of the winter-spring storms off the ocean and now needs major roof repairs. Thankfully it’s a small building, but apparently we’re covering most of that cost from here, thus now taking care of two houses before we’ve taken ownership of the second one.
Don’t forget your friends at the IRS. Mrs. OFD is absolutely naive if she thinks that they are going away.
I had lunch with a church friend of mine yesterday who is an IRS agent. He is currently investigating a tax scam where a Texas guy sold a very old warehouse to a church for $100K and then took a $400K charitable contribution. The guy got an appraiser out of Tennessee to certify the property as worth $500K. The property is not worth more than $100K so my friend disallowed the entire charitable contribution. My friend is crucifying the guy as this year’s project. BTW, every year that my friend has a noteworthy tax recovery project, he gets a bonus. He has gotten a bonus every year of his 12 years as an IRS field auditor and is now a GS-12.
every year that my friend has a noteworthy tax recovery project, he gets a bonus
Nice to know they work on commission. This probably does not apply to your friend but I am certain there are some agents that will be somewhat over-zealous and stretch things in the IRS’ favor. Us mere serfs are then left with either accepting the ruling or spending several thousand on an attorney. Sometimes cheaper just to settle and move on. And I am sure the IRS knows that. Never got on the bad side of the IRS as you will lose even if you are right. Guilty until proven innocent.
Speaking of tax issues, and who really does not wish to speak of them on this fine summer day, we’re now getting calls again from the out-of-state law firm the state hired to get our taxes, probably up to $30k by now, on top of the $120k, most likely, owed to the Feds. Soon the combined total will be more than our house is appraised at. Exciting!
And even more amusing to know the state of Vermont couldn’t find a Vermont law firm to do the gig. Pretty much the same thing they’ve done with IT for decades now, too, resulting, in one case, with our multi-million dollar ObummerCARE web site epic fail. And that money is GONE and fuck you very much, no apologies, no accountability, no one fired for screwing it up. Also no health care insurance for wife and tens of thousands of other residents, either.
Soon the combined total will be more than our house is appraised at. Exciting!
Does the wife know that she is bankrupt ?
And I see another $600 was taken from the bank’s ATM yesterday while Princess was here. Leaving us with a couple of hundred.
Have you considered establishing your own bank account for your personal income ? You know, for those times when you have to buy something to eat ?
Your IRS / state tax situation perplexes me. If you are married, then you file jointly, right ?
We file jointly. Every year has been a different total PITA. Dealing with the IRS has been a continuing nightmare for six or seven years running now. Contradictory and confusing instructions, plus their mistakes in freezing our bank accounts, etc., etc. Too long and dreary a tale.
I am considering my own account for the money over and above what I contribute (50%) of the monthly expenses here. I’m also considering telling wife to sell the house, give the proceeds to the Fed and state tax people, and then go live with her mom and Princess together. I’ll strike out for the territory and have some adventures. Some days I don’t much care anymore.
Well, at least you can count on kids like Princess to stick
around and take good care of you in your old age!
I expect Princess to be history when the money is gone.
Oh, and who’s ATM card was used?
And a swoosh for Mr. Paul, for missing the sarcasm.
Good point on ATM… OFD should be able to change the PIN unilaterally.
Yeah. Swoosh indeed. 🙂 I blame it on sinuses that hurt so much I think my upper teeth might need to be pulled.
And a swoosh for Mr. Paul, for missing the sarcasm.
I missed the sarcasm also. But then again, I have always been fairly dense.
It would be nice if somebody like Princess could manage to get a good-paying job and provide for her folks, if only in a nursing home.
Sorry, Mr. OFD, I’m sympathizing, with somewhat similar situations, not trying to make you feel worse.
Thanks, guys. Some days I just don’t care anymore and would wash my hands of it all.
Just talked for an hour on the phone with Great-Grandmother up there in northern NB; she’s handing over the cottage to us as she feels her days are numbered getting up there and back and taking care of the place. Wife wants to AirBnB it most of the year and just keep it for us for a month or so in the summer. Thinks it can be easily done. Any questions I have are summarily dispensed with. Thus mote it be.
She also agreed with me, however, that Princess needs to FINISH UP THIS YEAR. I also told her that we can’t keep shelling out the dough for that if wife wants to cut back to one gig a month. So I think we’re on the same page. We’ll see.
So I think we’re on the same page
Same book?
Wife wants to AirBnB it most of the year and just keep it for us for a month or so in the summer. Thinks it can be easily done. Any questions I have are summarily dispensed with. Thus mote it be.
What could go wrong ?
You are going to drive up each time it is rented, change the sheets, restock the toilet paper, empty the trash, right ? It is just a six hour round trip IIRC, no step for a stepper.
Princess might be different than my sisters. I hope so.
Those lovely (as in hippo sized) ladies moved down to the Valley before dad died. They then proceeded to “clean up the house”. Which involved no brooms or anything scullery like being harmed. Dad had a shit load of Franklin Mint stuff. Last I saw, three footlockers of the stuff. Plus plenty of silver coins. And Gubs. Plus lots of ammo for all the gubs. A shed /full/ of tools.
All gone. The next door neighbor said “man, those ladies carried a lot of stuff out of that house”.
One sister was posting on FB stuff like “what do you do for someone with dementia”. I would think one would take the afflicted one to the doctor. Maybe I have a bad attitude. Perhaps so, the sisters told me so, so it must be true.
Anyway. They looted the place. The real silverware? 12 place settings gone. That stuff was about $80 per piece when mom bought a dozen missing pieces in the early ’80’s. Gubs? Gone. Tools, ditto.
Mom bought one those walk-in tubs. $10 or $12 grand installed. It’s her money. The sister on the bank account took offense, wiped the account to $200 and the sisters moved to Houston. Now near Brenham.
A month later I had a Priority Mail package containing two sets of keys for a Ford with a note saying “it’s your turn now”. I called mom, she hadn’t seen either in a month. She was down to an inch of milk a hair from clotting and part of a loaf of bread about to turn green. She didn’t have car keys….
So we moved her up here. And now she’s in a nursing home. Because it’s not dementia, it’s not not wearing the dentures, it’s strokes in the speech center.
So. I’m on the title for mom’s van. It’s an ’04 Freestar with quirks and not quite 40,000 miles. And I put myself on the deed to the house. That was not fun… no one told mom to handle dad’s will.
I don’t care about the looting. It’s the leaving her to die…..
I’m thinking of setting up an apartment complex with associated short-term lodging. Not exactly a retirement village, but residents and guests must fit a specific demographic: men who are sick to death of their wives and quite likely their children. No women will be allowed unless they meet at least two of the following criteria: young, bleached, siliconed, dimwitted.
“You are going to drive up each time it is rented, change the sheets, restock the toilet paper, empty the trash, right ? It is just a six hour round trip IIR…”
It’s twelve hours ONE-WAY. Check yer choice of online map; northeastern tip of Nouveau Brunswick.
No, wife sez we already have a local chick to do the maid service routine and let us know of any major chit, and who will then serve as the go-between for repairs. What could possibly go wrong, is wife’s attitude exactly.
“I don’t care about the looting. It’s the leaving her to die…..”
Wow. That’s some cold shit right there, man. After looting the place. Wow. I don’t think Princess is quite that bad; just an entitled 20-something whose priorities are conflicting regularly with ours when we’d thought those years were over and done with.
“No women will be allowed unless they meet at least two of the following criteria: young, bleached, siliconed, dimwitted.”
I was quibbling in my head about the “dimwitted” requirement but have decided to let it slide as is. I can see the reasoning behind it.
And now we’re both going to hell. I’d like an apartment with a decent view, if possible, and a gas stove. Don’t care about wireless net access or cable tee-vee. Cold climate, if possible. That’s it. I’ll take care of the rest.
And I put my self on the deed to the house
I am hoping you have POA for everything. Since your mom is in a nursing home remove her name from everything you can. About the only thing can’t is her bank account where SS and possibly retirement gets direct deposit. Put yourself on those accounts as joint, beneficiary if joint is not an option. Get POA with the IRS as a regular POA will not work. You will need that to file taxes on your mother’s behalf.
If your father served in the military check with the VA about benefits. Especially important if your father received disability. Self pay in the nursing home may get about $1K a month from the VA. If on Medicaid your mom will get $90.00 a month. This is tax free money.
I went through a lot of this with my aunt. A lot of stuff you do not get told as the agencies don’t want you to know.
“I went through a lot of this with my aunt. A lot of stuff you do not get told as the agencies don’t want you to know.”
Thanks, Mr. Ray; sharing that experience is likely quite valuable to a bunch of us out here as we get older ourselves. No shit they don’t want us to know anything; that could cut into their endless grifting and thievery. When they’re not simply just fucking up.
I’m thinking of setting up an apartment complex with associated short-term lodging. Not exactly a retirement village, but residents and guests must fit a specific demographic: men who are sick to death of their wives and quite likely their children. No women will be allowed unless they meet at least two of the following criteria: young, bleached, siliconed, dimwitted.
Oh no you won’t! Government ‘fair housing’ authorities will see that you properly diversify and rent to deserving families using your tax dollars to rent and destroy your property.
I do have POA. And it’s a joint account for her money. She has SS and some from dad. About $1860 a month total.
She has Tricare for life. The medi-folks let her keep $60 a month. Can’t have more than $2000 total in the bank and her slush fund at the nursing home (for hair cuts, etc.) at the end of the month. That’s easy…. the nursing home charges her Discover card. Towards the end of the month, after the electric and water bills on the house are paid, I send most of the rest to Discover and leave about $500 in the bank.
I didn’t remove her from the deed on the house because they can supposedly claw back 5 years. So, can’t sell it or give it away. Plus it keeps the tax valuation locked where it was when dad turned 65 almost 30 years ago. I’ll hit 60 this October. Maybe Wal-Mart will finally stop carding me when I buy beer. If mom is still going when I hit 65…. and no doubt she will, then I’ll drop her off of the house. But her will leaves everything to me. The tax value on the house and land is about $42,000. I don’t know. I just hope I’m not going to get bit in the ass in a few years.
Other than having the slab poured, they built the house. Including the ironwork in the slab. My motorcycle wreck pretty much paid for the house. I kept a couple of grand (frittered away in a couple of years) and dad borrowed the rest. He kept a spread sheet (on paper) of payments to me. I assume he paid me back. He asked me once if we were even, I said “why would you rip me off? I didn’t keep track.” Whoa, the old man gave me a funny look.
The van’s Bluebook is about $300 and has Purple Heats license plates. So tags are $12 a year compared to pushing $75.
Oh no you won’t! Government ‘fair housing’ authorities will see that you properly diversify and rent to deserving families using your tax dollars to rent and destroy your property.
Great. Manatees with boob jobs sprawling around the pool.
Ya know, to be honest, we don’t have that many poisonous snakes in Texas and we do have the A/C tech down pert goof.
A/C much needed here. We had only 3 days under 100F in July. My electric was almost $900.
Never fear! That’s part of my business plan. I’ll get first month+last month+deposit, they’ll move their crap in, then they’ll die under mysterious but clearly painful circumstances. Keep the money, go through their stuff, and rent to the next deserving family.
You know how if you have a problem, it’s a problem, but if you have a bunch of problems sometimes they’ll take care of each other? Well, activist judges and bureaucrats + simmering rage which needs to be vented in a healthy manner + surfeit of parasites = profit.
Dad had a shit load of Franklin Mint stuff. Last I saw, three footlockers of the stuff.
Likely worth less than he paid for it. My mom had some “collectable” plates that she bought for $20-30 each. They go for $5 each on ebay in sets, if you are lucky. The collectables and antiques market has collapsed except at the high end and a few specific categories. I saw a rerun of the “Antiques Roadshow” that was updated with new prices since the show had been 8 or so years ago. Most were 20-30% lower. Millennials and the later generations don’t collect stuff.
So what is your theory about the real purpose of the “Archway” museum built across I-80 outside Kearney, NE?
Probably there to control the chemtrail system. 😉
“Government ‘fair housing’ authorities will see that you properly diversify and rent to deserving families using your tax dollars to rent and destroy your property.
”
This is why my friend converted his apartment building to vacation rentals. NO TENANTS. Everyone stays 2 weeks max. He earns in a week what used to take the whole month, and has NO TENANTS. Helps that he’s in Cali, a block from the beach….
“My motorcycle wreck pretty much paid for the house. ” I did a similar thing. Paid off the mortgage with the settlement money, got a check from the parents every month instead of the bank getting their money. Until it stopped. Assumed I got more than I’d have had if I had the money to spend all at once. Never checked. Never cared.
n
“The collectables and antiques market has collapsed except at the high end and a few specific categories”
this, in spades. I see it every weekend at estate sales. NO ONE wants your collection, unless it’s gubs. Lladro, hummel, carnival glass, old soap, whatever it is enjoy it for your own sake but don’t think it’s an investment. The family silver goes for melt value or less. Gramma’s china goes to the thrift store (which sucks because I love a rose pattern that the wife would never allow.)
I’ve said it before, a great way to start selling on ebay is to start with your own stuff.
n
“A/C much needed here. We had only 3 days under 100F in July. My electric was almost $900.”
Gee, might need some insulation in the attic…. $900 bucks!!!!
Please there’s a f00t up there spayed in on top of the original 8″. California has high electric rates plus the baseline is way too low for the inland areas.
“Great. Manatees with boob jobs sprawling around the pool.”
Oh my. Such micro-macro-aggression here. And the image came immediately to mind. Thanks.
“Probably there to control the chemtrail system.”
And Mr. ech is today’s innernet winnah!!!
WRT collectibles; I sure know for a fact my collection of books is totally worthless except to anyone but me now. Wife reads at least as much as I do but not my stuff. And no one else in my family reads. I’d donate it to a library when I croak but they’d probably shit-can it all or sell it for pennies from cardboard boxes left out on tables in a driving rain.
Our furniture might be worth something, I dunno; it’s big monster pieces 150-200 years old. Wife also has a pile of crystal and other pieces she finds for pennies on the dollar in her travels. My brother calls all this stuff “dead peoples’ junk” and will have nothing to do with it, other than family pictures that he’s trying to get together. Since no one else cares but us and previous family members did not see fit to put names or dates on them a 100-200 years ago.
I might be interested. If you die in some unexpected (but preferably hilarious) fashion, let me know.
Oh, wait. Was that insensitive? I think I’m supposed to try to be more sensitive, but the problem with telling an insensitive person to be more sensitive is that it’s pointless advice. Meh, fuck it. I have more dead baby jokes to write.
Actuary tables say I’m gonna croak before wife does, but she has a few major things medically not that great going on, unlike me, in the pink of health and fitness. I also hope to go out in a fuckin’ blaze of glory and if it’s funny at the same time, why, that’s just icing on the cake.
Sensitivity is way over-rated, and by the usual suspects. Fuck them.
Hey! I mentioned dead baby jokes and you didn’t ask me to tell you one! That was very insensitive! I need a safe space! I shall gather up ten thousand dead babies and build myself a safe space with their tiny bodies!
My intention is to die violently. Considering the pathetic ineptitude of muggers, it looks like it won’t happen when I’m hunting muggers, so my expectation is deliberately going out in a blaze of glory. I’d always figured to set it up in a way that would haunt nightmares for a century. But setting it up to be hilarious is kind of an awesome idea.
We should work on a script to follow; how to make it violent but very funny.
“A/C much needed here. We had only 3 days under 100F in July. My electric was almost $900.”
Gee, might need some insulation in the attic…. $900 bucks!!!!
Nah, the upper 1/3rd in Cali pay for the electricity needs of the bottom 2/3rds. Can’t have all those illegals XXXXXXXXX refugees XXXXXX immigrants paying for their own stuff, you know.
Plus, Global Warming.
Lead the pigs on a chase with prepared explosives going off along the route, spelling L-O-S-E-R-S when viewed from the air.
Walk into a cop bar and start shooting. Wear a Michelle Obama disguise.
There are probably a bunch of better ways. I’ll need time to kick ideas around. My inclinations and experience steer me toward assassination, sabotage, and terrorism, which is totally not what we’re going for here.
Looks like they never got around to putting in that new north-south 300kV line, bringing the power from where it’s generated down to LA. (Or maybe they did, but retired another high tension line. I don’t remember the routes of the lines from 20 years ago, only the number of them.)
“My inclinations and experience steer me toward assassination, sabotage, and terrorism, which is totally not what we’re going for here.”
And mine tend to gravitate toward carpet bombing from high altitude and machine guns.
That’s fine … if you have a bomber, and an airport, and a pilot, and bombs. Machine guns are a bit less problematic, but not an everyday item.
Terrorism, by contrast, can be carried out for a dollar: put a teaspoon of baking yeast into an envelope and mail it to someone. It’s stupid and pathetic, but it works — ref the yeast and talcum powder scares in 2001 and 2002, after actual anthrax was mailed to journos and a couple politicians.
(Also, lest anyone be concerned, my main professional interest in terrorism was in counter-terrorism. But to be a good counter-terrorist you have to be able to think like a terrorist. I was by far top in my class in terms of applying amoral pragmatism to the scenarios. Most of my classmates were horrified but the instructors singled me out for praise. “Be like Steve! Steve is the ideal to which you should aspire!” OK, I made that up.)
Oh, I get it; I realize the implications of my tendencies and experience. And heartily endorse simplicity and cheapness.
I’ve been working up some scenarios, just in case PD wants my input next time I volunteer to be a punching bag xxxxxxxxx get a vigorous poking.
I’m thinking throw 2 five gallon buckets filled with gasoline off a high roof, followed by a road flare. But hell, coffee creamer would work too, if the bounce spread out the powder enough. That’s how I know this isn’t serious yet. No one has loaded up fire extinguishers with gasoline and hosed down the thin blue line (or stabbed a mounted unit with a knife/bang stick/road flare.)
We’re still at the sticks, stones, and bad names phase….
n
I got no fancy milspec training, but I read alot, don’t care all that much about other people, and have time to think….I should be an author! Movie plot attacks, just like wasshisname does every year for cybers– schnierer?
n
It seems like somebody somewhere is ginning this up bit by bit so it WILL get serious, sooner or later. This last caper certainly could have done the trick.
Looks like the Boston caper is gonna fizzle out; my brother down there says the scheduled speakers have withdrawn. So now, in doing the “decent” thing and trying to avoid any more violence, the lefty cocksuckers have won again.
Looks like they never got around to putting in that new north-south 300kV line, bringing the power from where it’s generated down to LA. (Or maybe they did, but retired another high tension line. I don’t remember the routes of the lines from 20 years ago, only the number of them.)
I am amazed daily that Cali can supply their power needs.
BTW, I forgot to mention that Friday the 13th occurs on a Sunday in the month of Flame this year.
“Month of Flame”. Bah. August around here has been unusually cool. Using the same scientific and statistical approach as the warmenists, I declare that the Earth is in a severe cooling phase and it’s almost certainly anthropogenic.
I am amazed daily that Cali can supply their power needs.
We can’t. but at rates 50% higher than the national average there are plenty willing to sell to us. Oh, we don’t worry because politicians here have promised all our energy will be ‘green’, which means free.
And yet, lower than I pay.
Have I mentioned lately that I hate New York?
I didn’t remove her from the deed on the house because they can supposedly claw back 5 years
That is true. Make the change now and five years from now you can apply for Medicaid. Did not make think my aunt would last two years. She made it 10.5 years. Hedge your bets and make the change in ownership.
Did not make think my aunt would last two years. She made it 10.5 years. Hedge your bets and make the change in ownership.
I did not think that my father-in-law would make it to 75. He will be 85 in a couple of months and is going strong. Totally crippled in a nursing home but his heart is beating to beat the band. The good thing is that he has the funds to make it and the VA is kicking in $3,100/month since my wife got him listed as 100% disabled. For which, he has yet to thank her.
BTW, by moving your mother off the deed, your tax basis in the farm ? ranch ? will not be bumped up to the current value when she passes away. Something to think about. That is assuming that she passes first.