41 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-27-17”

  2. Good morning, Chas.
    Good night, Jo.

    I don’t know whose place it is–but I think it looks like a fabulous place to live!

    Lindsey has a follow-up appointment with concussion specialist this morning. I am pleased to report she has been symptom free for about a week. She’s back at school full-time and only has one Pre-Cal test left to make-up.

    I’d write more, but Becca-boo just got up….time for our morning visit….

    Liked by 5 people

  3. It’s not mine, but I like it. It sits on a hill above one of my favorite parks. It also has a smaller house down below it by the pond. One property, but the same family owns both houses. I just like the look of it. 🙂

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  4. Today is “Take Your Crumb Snatcher to Work Day.”

    So Elizabeth and Cheryl are at work, and I’m going to take some pics. See ya.

    🙂

    Liked by 8 people

  5. Fellow Investor,

    The market has been a wild ride since Donald Trump shocked the world by becoming the next U.S. President.

    But I have to warn you, as Ronald Reagan used to say, “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!”

    What if I told you the Dow could reach 31,000 by this time next year?

    The above is from an e-mail I got.
    What I don’t understand is the TV commercials I see that say]
    “Silver is at it’s lowest point in years. Next year it will double in price. I have lots of it. Buy some of my silver.”
    My question. If it is going to increase so much, why do you want to sell it to me at that low price?

    I understand the problem, that the Fed is creating money and the money Congress is spending doesn’t exist. i.e. The money I have in the bank is just a bunch od digits in a computer.

    But I don’t know what to do about it. I doubt that silver and gold are the answer.
    Nor is the present stock market.

    Kim has an excellent selling point. “You can buy a hard asset with almost free money.”

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  6. Educated guess? Invest in education. Learn survival skills.

    Good morning. I have to get ready for conference. A storm is expected at the time I am scheduled to pick up ladies. So, we may be revising our schedule. Flexibility is my strong point.

    That home is very attractive, AJ. I can understand the appeal it has for you. Lovely setting.

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  8. What a lovely header photo…it appears to me to be a converted barn. My parents squared danced their entire lives…the place where they square danced was called “The Hayloft” located in Cincinnati…Gus was the owner and “caller”…brings back sweet childhood memories. That place in the header looks very much like the Hayloft…red barn with stone foundation…brings back smiles this morning…thanks for sharing with us AJ!

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  9. Chas, yes I have been in that conversation. Run away inflation of the 1970’s allowed Boomers to invest. Even at 11-16% interest people still bought homes. Right now the selling point is that the Fed will have to raise the interest rate in the next year and that will likely reduce your buying power by 10-20%
    Yesterday at lunch we were discussing the new Trump tax plan. Of course in commercial real estate that sounds like a terrific opportunity to make a lot of money.
    I came home yesterday to a discussion with Mr. P. He has never worked in a “corporate” environment. He has either worked in the civilian medical field or the military medical field. He was buying into the whole 15% corporate tax only being a scam for corporations to make more money. I assured him that with the current tax rate, a good accounting firm, and all the tax loopholes that corporations were paying much LESS than 15% right now. If they do away with most of the deductions and a corporation actually HAS to pay the full 15% the IRS will come out ahead. I think I may have changed his mind. He is still smarting from the amount of taxes we had to pay this year. He was convinced with about 18K in medical expenses we would get money back.
    He doesn’t understand that the rich don’t pay taxes and the poor don’t pay taxes…it’s the poor smucks who take such pride in being middle class that pay all the taxes.

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  11. I am watching to see if son is going to have sufficient funds for college in the fall. For tuition and a dorm room and meals, sounds like he will need ten thousand. And then books and whatever. He plans to make at least eight thousand again this summer and he just sold his dirt bike for about twenty two hundred. And now he is talking about how he needs a new stereo for his car…..Children….

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  12. Michelle, I am not going to get through that post soon, but the immediate thought was, aren’t we supposed to be able to talk with the folks who surround somebody, seeing them in their day to day walk, before allowing them in as an authority. Not just the fellow church goers, but the neighbors and all? Find out if their lives match up to their words.

    I don’t listen or read anybody but the pontificators on here (on the interent, I read books and attend church), but I will hope to read that article because it is important.

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  13. The house in the picture looks like it has been imported from the European Alps, with the stabling animals below the housing for humans.

    Investment… When I was in my preteen years, my father was in a serious car accident, and he received a payout from the insurance of the driver who hit his car (sadly, the driver died in the accident). It wasn’t that much, but it was a considerable sum for a family who has always been barely above the low income line. My parents were always generous, and the money that wasn’t needed for living expenses as my father recovered was given to various people in need; but they gave their children each a moderate sum of money which was invested on the advice of the local bank. Then, the Tokyo stock exchange and thus the worldwide market crashed. My father acted to withdraw the invested money, but not before a small amount of the principal had been lost. We never put the money we children received back into investment, and it was used up long ago. My parents did have a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) which every Canadian worker is encouraged to have, but the money from that will be gone in three years, leaving them entirely dependent on their Canada Pension cheques (not that the RRSP yields much per month anyway). Investment in funds or stocks has never really worked for our family.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Isn’t that a beautiful “estate”? The way the other half lives 🙂

    There is a house in my neighborhood that’s beautiful — 2-story, classic architecture with the pitched roof and covered porch. It’s always immaculately kept, seems freshly painted at all times and looks so pretty, like something out of a picture/story book. It seemed to have a big family living there with teens (or young adult kids), but sold recently which made me wonder if the kids there had all finally gotten out of school and left home. So far, it still looks lovely under the new ownership.

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  15. Mumsee, are you saying we indulge in pontification on this blog? 🙂

    Michelle @ 9:40, the writer has a good point. When I taught Sunday School for a year, I always wished that I could get more feedback from the pastor as to whether I was teaching the right things or not. When it comes to blogging, I feel very wary about expressing any original thoughts. Here, I feel like it is just an ongoing conversation between Christian friends, so while I’m careful to not express novel opinions about doctrine (either I have been taught it or read about it from orthodox authors), neither do I think that such a conversation needs to be expressly under the authority of a church. It isn’t as if any of us are setting up as pastoral authorities here. I have noticed that several of the best Christian women bloggers do indicate in places that what they are posting is with the approval of both their husbands and church elders. If I were to start blogging on a larger scale, I would definitely want pastoral input. Currently, I’m without any firm pastoral guidance, as there is only an interim pastor (who is a good and decent man) in the church where I’m a member, while the city pastor will be spending the next little while on compassionate leave, so perhaps it is just as well that I don’t have time to blog to any extent.

    Some good news – I got my final grade for the Pathophysiology course, and I got the same grade in it as I did in Anatomy & Physiology last semester, which is an A. I was concerned about that final exam, as I was not feeling at all confident as I wrote it. So, I am thankful.

    Liked by 9 people

  16. I need to come up with 2 stories today to leave for the editor to use this weekend and next week when I’m off. Tomorrow is Pet Expo day.

    For those who saw my post on the daily thread late yesterday, I heard back in a long text from Carol’s brother who sounds very dis-inclined to send her money “early” for her birthday per her request, of course, and I don’t blame him. We both get hit up by her for early Christmas and birthday gifts (he noted that his own kids, now in their 20s, have told him they’re “too old” to get BD gifts, but Carol starts asking for hers months in advance — I go through the same thing with her, of course).

    He made the point that I have as well, that’s she’s like a little kid with her gift demands, it can feel like a shake-down at times. He said he tried not sending her any gifts at all, telling her gifts are to be given voluntarily by the giver on the day of someone’s birthday or on a holiday, not months in advance by special request. I remember that period and she was quite put out by it, thinking he had so much more money than she does … Anyway, he said he finally relented and started sending her gifts again in the past year which he said now he regrets as he sees the demands are coming again.

    I don’t know how much of all this is due to her mental illness, but this behavior of hers can be such a drain on all of us around her, that’s for sure. I just don’t want to see her get evicted if she falls too far behind on the rent (and she won’t have enough to make her full rent this month, she told me).

    I’ve made a list in my head of what her top 2-3 priorities should be as soon as she gets paid this month (probably in a day or two) and will call her with my 2-cents worth, whatever good that will do. First on the list is to get the paperwork notarized and mailed so she can start getting that extra monthly pension check she has coming to her but hasn’t gotten all year because she never has the $15 to pay the notary and postage fees after she makes the usual beeline trip to the 99 cent store after getting paid. But she’s not gotten that pension check all year so she’s due for at least a smallish-lump sum if she gets her paperwork in order (it’s mostly spoken for already, of course, but she needs to get that money asap).

    Second priority is to find someone to give her a ride into downtown today or tomorrow — before the weekend — to get her phone unlocked rather than buying a burner phone at Rite Aid (her inclination right now, but they’re $77) which would just be a total waste of money since she has a good phone, she just needs someone at the corporate office to get it up and running for her if at all possible. I think she did learn her lesson about writing down password hints from now on. This was definitely a needless and self-inflicted wound.

    Third: Get her low-cost ride card re-instated & keep at least a small transportation fund for the month so she can go places when needed. The dial-a-ride program offers door-to-door transportation for $5 each way (and free bus fare) but she’s lost her card (again) and a new one costs $15.

    It’s just this round-robin of issues she winds up with, endlessly.

    And I know no I can’t ‘fix’ any of that, not really. But as with a child, you just want to take them by the shoulders and give them a good shake, you know?

    OK, rant over.

    Liked by 5 people

  17. I don’t give people gifts if they ask for them. I just tell them, oh that is too bad, I was just going to buy that for you as a surprise but now I can’t. This especially applies to eighteen year old when he is admiring a Mazarati or whatever.

    DJ, you can make sure she knows you are not taking her to the dollar store or to the library until she has those three things taken care of. Would it be less expensive for her to hire a taxi than to buy the useless phone?

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Taxi or über, yes, probably. Unfortunately, if she doesn’t get paid by direct deposit until Saturday (which is likely) the corporate phone place will be closed and she’ll be broke again before the weekend (or before Saturday) is over.

    I’ll also ask her if there are things she might be able to sell for some cash somehow (not sure how she’d do that really since she has no internet access without her phone, of course).

    She needs a plan. And a willingness to try do things differently, even if she stumbles through it. But I never see (or hear from her) any desire to try, maybe because she feels she’ll just fail, I don’t know.

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  20. Old habits are difficult to break. If she is really mentally ill, could her brother become her guardian and the monies would go to him and he could pay for her stuff? He could work with you on that. Not something she would choose, obviously, but we wonder how that works for the truly mentally ill as our fifteen year old comes closer to eighteen.

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  21. Michelle,

    I have noticed that when I read a book, I usually read to see what church the author is coming from and notice if he is claiming an accountability there. It makes sense for an internet author to do the same. By naming your church and authorities, you are saying you are being held accountable by them. However, in this day of massive information overload and dishonesty, it is possible for an author to put up names even without a connection and, unless said church is googling their name and it comes up, no one the wiser.

    A small side note, when a daughter was internet dating, she told me what church a guy claimed to attend. I emailed said church to ask about his church commitment and never heard back. She did not continue the relationship.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. A number of people from my church, including my pastor and elders, are connected to me via FB and Twitter and (presumably can) see whatever I post. I don’t post a lot about my faith, I use it mostly for work-related posts, but I do have a set-aside list of folks for Christian posts and sometimes will post something generally on the subject, but usually links to sites I know and trust or simply news stories about religious issues.

    Mumsee, interesting idea about the money and her brother, I can ask him but she’d put up a fight and I don’t think it would work if she weren’t on board. She definitely is mentally ill, has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia (I talked to her doctor years ago about that when she had a meltdown and had to go to a psych hospital for 30 days). The facility where she lives will help manage residents’ money on a voluntary basis, but she wouldn’t agree to that when they approached her about it.

    If she’s serious about changing her behavior in that area, though, she’ll need an iron-clad strategy that doesn’t allow her full access right away to her checks; someone will have to wind up being the “keeper” of her money even if it’s a handshake agreement. I may suggest she contact the women from her church there in Hollywood who offered to help her with a budget last year. She sent them packing forthwith (owing them both money, of course), but maybe she’s more willing now.

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  23. Her brother does have power of attorney for her when and if that becomes necessary — but currently I can’t see where it is, legally speaking.

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  24. It would probably have to be an involuntary guardianship, where her money goes directly to an account he has access to and she does not. It would be nice if she could work with the folks that could help her, both the church and the facility. Or her brother. Or you. But that is not how it works, generally.

    We had foster children who had borderline parents. The state would issue them a check each Monday, they would take themselves out to eat on Tuesday, and the children would go without except school food, the rest of the week. It is not something easily understood by us but it is actually quite a widespread problem.

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  28. Mumsee’s probably repotting tomatoes, planting flowers and some hops and some berries, moving a dresser, listening to a ten year old and a nine year old read, doing math with some children, washing some dishes, milking a goat, feeding some chickens and turkeys and sheep and goats and rabbits and guineas…. It’s a wonder we ever hear from her at all.

    Me, I’m just taking a quick break from my desk job.

    Jo, glad you could get back on today. Happy Friday!

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  31. My legs were really short and pudgy in 1970.

    I like converted barns; I’ve seen a couple, and at least from the outside they look pretty cool. We also have a few old one-room schoolhouses still standing, a few of them converted to other use, and at least one train depot that is now a house.

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  34. Kevin, I suspect she is following up a blog post she wrote a couple weeks ago (and linked here) about chasing all over Europe for charms for her mother’s charm bracelet when she (Michelle) was a teenager.

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  35. Unless you prove a person incompetent, they can do what they want with their money. The person has to hear ‘no’ and some other words of truth from those around them, over and over again. Not allowing pity parties, while still acknowledging real pain and hurt is one thing to do. Pointing out the blessings, for example, or pushing towards maturity. When enough people do this there can be real change.

    Often, what goes on is in the, “You can’t blame a person for trying,” category. Think adolescence. Letting a person know they are not the center of the universe; not the only one suffering hardship etc. Setting your own boundaries is important, because most of us delight in knowing we are needed and in giving help to others. That can be exploited. That is not a problem, except when it inhibits growth in the one we are trying to help.

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  36. Short legs here, too, but wishing for long, always. Sigh.

    Are you allowed to eat pumpkin pie in April?

    Kathaleena, agreed. I spoke briefly with Carol this afternoon, she just does not “get it” and seems to be living in another world when I try to point out that her decisions are affecting so many other people. She thinks her brother is being unfair and selfish. So will have to let it be for now. She doesn’t seem close to confronting what’s really going on.

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  41. DJ, my legs are short too. I myself am not (I’m 5’6″), bu I’ve learned to buy pants from the “petites” section and they’re usually just right. But I detest low-riders–not only are they uncomfortable, but my torso is long enough without needing to have shirts that much longer because pants start lower. Really, really ready for that fashion trend to be over or for more options to become easily available.

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