72 and humid. A bit warmer this morning, with concrete damp from dew. Ugg. I better get my outside and attic work done soon. Chances are slim though.
Spent all day yesterday poking at stuff for OFD. Man what a racket. These vendors all seem intent on squeezing desperate people for every last penny. With healthcare out of reach of many, I wouldn’t be surprised if there developed an underground market for stuff that hasn’t jumped thru all the hoops. This stuff used to be expensive due to small market, arcane knowledge, and regulatory hurdles. I think it’s expensive now mainly due to regulatory hurdles and third party payers. Hopefully the culture of open source and desktop manufacturing will destroy open it up like other markets. So far, the established players have simply bought out and/or co-opted the promising projects.
In broader news, a 1500 strong army of young men is marching toward the US with a stated goal of crashing thru our border. This is not new, 100s of thousands have done so already. This time, they are being more “F you” about it, daring us to respond. The response or lack will set the tone for our ‘new sheriff in town.’ I’m thinking gunships, pour encourager les autres. Not likely though.
And the long warned of collapse in automobile sales may finally be here. Last year Ford took a big hit to their stock price for giving honest guidance that they saw the market contracting, and sales decreasing. This week we see stories about a collapse in used car sales, and sub-prime auto lending. GM is switching from reporting monthly to reporting by quarter. That should allow them at least a couple of months to hide their collapsing sales too.
Do not get complacent. Keep working on your preps, finances, personal skills, and relationships. None of us knows what the future will bring, but like Edison, we can invent it, one little bit at a time.
nick