Cooler and humid. Hot later. ‘Cuz that’s how we roll…. [79F and 89%RH at 845am with mixed clouds and overcast, sprinkle of rain earlier]
I put up a link to some of the video finally coming out of the Bahamas in comments yesterday. In areas that were hard hit, there’s very little salvageable left. There’s almost no where to stand to use the lever either…*
My goals for this week involve more rotation of my secondary location, finally getting my primary garage storage sorted out and modified with lessons learned from the rat invasion, and getting more <s>carp</s> er, stuff, out of my driveway and off to auction. All while trying not to have heat stroke.
Somewhere in there, I need to get the electrician out to hook up the gennie, get some garden stuff done, and get some more antenna work done. All while gearing up for the Fall holiday schedule and school demands. Oh, and hopefully ebay sales pick up and I start making money again. (several small items have sold in the last week, which is encouraging.)
In larger economic news, there is more talk of recession and market flameout in the press. My personal sense is that the real economy has been in trouble for a long time, didn’t get significantly better, and is in fact bad.
One of my proxies is trade magazines. I get a bunch of them and they are all getting THIN. Some are down to almost pamphlet sized, 32 pages. These were all bound volumes during better times. Even Machine Design and EC&M are thin shadows of themselves. Machine Design was always the fattest (and most general interest) of them all. One other indicator is in bad times, you get solicited for new trade mags. IE, the publishers of mags you get start trying to increase their subscription base, pushing mags that are only marginally or even not at all relevant to their existing subscribers. I got a bunch of new .mil, defense, and aerospace mags this month. I love it because it gives me a window into places I wouldn’t normally be able to see.
Another proxy is getting emails or calls from businesses I haven’t had contact with in YEARS, possibly even a decade or more. Suddenly, they are mining their old email lists trying to drum up new business. When times are good, they’ve got enough customers as is, when times are bad, they start reaching deep looking for more.
Closer to home, thanks to Rick for modernizing some things around here, without changing too much. Anything that helps Rick to maintain this place is a Good Thing ™, and anything that keeps him engaged is also a Good Thing. I certainly can’t do what he does, and appreciate his efforts.
Thanks also to a couple of new commentors, and people who have commented after a long period of silence. It is the commentariat and the community here that make this place what it is. Hearing from someone new, or an infrequent commentor helps me ‘keep the faith’ that this is more than just an echo chamber of and for grumpy old men.
With that, I better get my day started.
n
*”give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I’ll move the world…”