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Later this morning, I will power walk my “Maggie” for exercise and blood flow. I have the idea of doing intervals doing the climb on Reynold’s Hills on a bike, and doing some muscle tearing, meaning strength training.

I have the task of rebuilding and reinforcing a Guinea Pig shelter that was glued together into something that can withstand the weather for the grand daughter’s deceased pet that is buried in our back-backyard’s memorial.

I have to do a shot for the Peekskill Herald’s 10-Questions series.

The garden is in need of attention, and I have to weed and harvest. Lawn could use a mowing.

With the recent topping off of our oil tank I calculate that annually it costs us $3100.00 worth of oil to keep our winter thermostat at a comfortable and steady 68 degrees. This annual bill is for heat and hot water. The Crown furnace supplies instant on tankless hot water as well as heat to hot water radiators. I find the big and heavy cast iron radiators to be great capacitors for energy storage that kinda provide mass for thermal storage.

This 1912 house lacks insulation, and only wher we remodeled is brought up to code. I upgraded to rock wool for long term performance. Know that our attic has fiberglass insulation that is beyond its service life and has flattened and collapsed to become effectively almost no insulation.

They say 25% of heat is lost through the roof/attic, and I would expect that this would translate into significantly lower heating bills and somewhat to lower cooling bills. Overall our energy costs are well contained.

I need to finish with the baseboard moldings in the dining room. Perhaps I’ll get on that today. The weather has 60 degree nighttime lows, and moderate 80 degree temperatures with moderate humidity. Time to do some work and exercise, and groom the property.

I learned from Andrew a solution of 25% Bleach can act as an herbicide. I need to do this on areas of our brick walkway.

Cal
 
Street Smut: On my block of 13 homes, our intrusive neighbor is starting a campaign against the empty house owner. “Maggie” was contacted by our woman intrusive neighbor and informed that they know someone and are getting actively involved.

Photos have been taken, and pretty much our intrusive neighbor somehow will remain anonymous with this complaint/action.

So why tell us? Also know that this is all about control, and through history we know how they hijack things and take over.

We were going to have a neighborhood BBQ, but then it got literally hijacked to their house.

We likely will be stuck in the middle or perhaps blamed because we are the closest neighbor to the empty house.

Oh-well. Like I said, “Pretty hard to just mind your own business.” Control freaks are at work and their judgments.

Cal
 
Andrew is interested when I flew in a B-17 as a videographer when I was involved in broadcast journalism.

I reported to Republic Airport in Farmingdale on Long Island. On the tarmac I had an $80K Ickagami broadcast quality video camera and a 1 inch U-Magic tape deck that weighed about 70 pounds in total.

The B-17 would be landing shortly, and I was warned not to walk into the spinning props. I was also warned that when entering the plane not to step off the gang plank running down the center of the plane, otherwise I could fall through the plane.

Suddenly the scene from Casa Blanca is recreated, except I’m getting on the plane to Lisbon.

My position for take off and landing was to wedge myself behind the pilot’s seat and the cockpit wall.

I figured out right away that the Texan who was the pilot and who owned the B-17 was a bit of a cowboy and hot dog because he did not use much of the runway before having the wheels off the ground.

Upon takeoff I moved to the back of the plane where there were rectangular ports where once machine guns were mounted to defend the aircraft. When I got into the plane I pushed on the outer skin covering the plane, and I discovered that the aluminum was about the same gauge as a beer can. I realized how a machine gun could saw a plane in half.

I was shooting video and pretty much we were perhaps at an altitude of maybe 500 feet, when suddenly and violently the plane banked hard. When a plane banks it looses lift so a pilot has to compensate by accelerating. Suddenly I kinda caught myself off balance and nearly falling out of the plane though the machine gun port.

I also somehow held onto the camera. That could of gotten ditched by accident.

The pilot performed his bank turn around the Jones Beach water tower.

Anyways, one of those exciting ways I could of gotten killed, but didn’t. What a freak way to die. Plenty of style. LOL.

BTW my takeaway is being in a B-17 crew during WWII took a lot of courage. Not a lot of protection. Unlikely survival if shot down. Big balls required.

The news story was one man was trying to ground the plane to preserve it as few B-17’s are flight worthy. The Texan of course wanted to display our heritage and history.

I was the videographer on this story, but I was also used as a reporter on other stories. I would initially wear a suit, and if required to change hats would be told to change into jeans depending on the assignment. Kinda like Superman in a telephone booth.

At times I also was a one-man band sent out by myself to do both tasks when short handed. These news stories were broadcast nightly on Long Island Cable.

Cal
 
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On yesterday’s heavy hands walk I saw some Knotweed starting to flower. This likely is the most important time to do my weeding on my property. None that remains is capable of flowering because of all the weakness created by previous weeding. It just gets weakened every time I weed. At best only immature baby plants exist.

Meanwhile I have a thicket of native plants that have replaced the Knotweed and pretty much this is also choking out the Knotweed. An unintended consequence has been a restoration of habitat for wildlife.

Using my cut-cut-cut method which is really pull-pull-pull they say takes 5 years, and this is my 4th year. It is a battle of attrition…

In the Ukraine, evidently some U.S. weapons that were previously restricted were used on Russian soil. Oh-well.

No minefields or fortifications allowed and encouraged easy gains. Lots of prisoners taken. Pretty much a new war. Tanks and armored vehicles are being used in their element: mechanized warfare; and the Russian responses are somewhat weak and inept.

Perhaps I was wrong about digging in… These new tactics are high risk, but also high reward. Ukraine still has a finite amount of resources and manpower. The Russians have a very weak flank to protect, but the Ukrainians have limited manpower and ammo.

Economically some form of secondary sanctions against Russia is preventing local and small banks in China from bypassing the primary Russian sanctions, and now it seems Russia is having economic and supply issues to sustain the war with Ukraine.

There was a dip in inflation recorded in June, but that was due to low energy prices that now are higher. The inflation, recession, rate cut arguing is just so even and balanced.

The Yen Carry-Trade is somewhat masked: don’t know if its limited to only a trillion dollars; or it could be as much as 4 trillion dollars. So either it could be just a speed bump, or it is a big deal. Pretty much a guess.

Things are rather destabilized, and anything can happen.

Cal
 
My spin on the reported 2.9% July inflation rate is that pretty much the inflation rate will likely continue to hover around 3% over the long-term and above the 2% FED target. This seems to be where the inflation rate has settled and pretty much seems to be the entrenched trend.

One report suggests the one hot spot for inflation is housing, and that includes home purchases and renting. The housing shortage basically a big source of inflation, and the housing shortage is not going away, I say for at least a decade or for more likely 15-20 years. Remember underbuilding began in 2007-2008.

Then there are the Trump Tariffs on Canadian wood products that Biden did not rescind. This accounts for 25% of our lumber demand, and is a 20% tariff that immediately caused inflation and price increases.

Housing and renting now are the hot spots for inflation, and pretty much there is no short term solution.

Kevin O’Leary says home prices will remain firm because of inflation. Then Barbara Corcoran stated that when interest rates hit a certain tipping point, that pretty much demand will inflate home prices. In another article she hinted that her tipping point would be maybe 6%.

Know that today there is a reported surge in refinancing…

I think inflation will persist, and that means a serious adjustment and a long-term outlook.

Cal
 
Expanding your real estate might be a great way to build long term equity. I'd talk to Devil Christian about the cheapest best way to build it. If it were me, I'd want walkways above for various uses.

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

My CFV16 Hasselblad Fat Digital Back 36x36cm 60mm T* Distagon 500C/M 25th Anniversary P&F 200J Ringflash with Hasselblad Adapter. I used to use this Ringflash for Fashion Photography, back in the day. LOL. Now the CFV16 Digital Back gives me instant gratification. The Flash and Norman 200B pack (two packs actually) went to New York City Flash Clinic (sadly gone SNIFF). They Hot Rodded it to the Norman pack, everything needed adjusting by them, so the flashtube didn't "sparkle" after firing. This until runs off on 12V Dry Cell Batteries, trickle charged. I've replaced the batteries several times, just solder 'em right in. This works great and is an UBER HOOT to shoot with. Many more uses for this thing up ahead. Maybe buy some more cheap batteries, they are available on Amazon.
 
Devil Dan,

That surely is a mucho hot rig. At night it could serve as a stun gun to blind people. LOL.

Those huge pixels I bet are very pretty from that Blad. Size matters more than count it is said, do you agree?

Didn’t know you were a fashion shooter. Pretty models can be mucho inspiring.

Cal
 
Only had to weed a little on the slope. The “landing” by the marsh is just too dense. Kinda impenetrable due to density.

Today’s hose project is to restore an intact stain glass window that somehow was stored in the garage that came with the house.

The dining room needs window treatments and pretty much the recycling of this window it fits perfectly in the middle window of the bay of three windows that is a walkout. With “Maggie” it could mean expensive custom made silkscreened Art Deco shades that cost $250.00 each. Ouch.

A man’s job is to make a woman happy, that’s not easy, and I say women are the reason why men have shorter lifespans. LOL.

So pretty much I was clever and likely saved mucho money.

Anyways I like the look and every afternoon the western sun fills the house with that orange glow. The stained glass will add beauty, and it cost nothing. Some sanding, staining and new caulking ahead.

I have Maggie cleaning the glass and found some glass scraping with a razor blade. I already scraped some old paint off the window frame.

Now looks like a 1/4 point cut from the FED in September. A bad unemployment number could make it a 1/2 point cut.

I would not say we have a soft landing yet, nor a hard landing, perhaps a sloppy muddy or spongy landing that is buggy and swampy.

Cal
 
Nokton48 said:
Expanding your real estate might be a great way to build long term equity. I'd talk to Devil Christian about the cheapest best way to build it. If it were me, I'd want walkways above for various uses.

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

My CFV16 Hasselblad Fat Digital Back 36x36cm 60mm T* Distagon 500C/M 25th Anniversary P&F 200J Ringflash with Hasselblad Adapter. I used to use this Ringflash for Fashion Photography, back in the day. LOL. Now the CFV16 Digital Back gives me instant gratification. The Flash and Norman 200B pack (two packs actually) went to New York City Flash Clinic (sadly gone SNIFF). They Hot Rodded it to the Norman pack, everything needed adjusting by them, so the flashtube didn't "sparkle" after firing. This until runs off on 12V Dry Cell Batteries, trickle charged. I've replaced the batteries several times, just solder 'em right in. This works great and is an UBER HOOT to shoot with. Many more uses for this thing up ahead. Maybe buy some more cheap batteries, they are available on Amazon.
Click to expand...
A question Dan-does it run off 12 volts or does the pack have a voltage step up unit?
 
Lots of progress with the stained glass window treatment. Paint scraped off, sanded and prepped for stain, and the second exterior side already has 2 coats of primer and will get painted white. New caulking also.

Pretty much a stained glass window of this size, intact as it is would be about $250-$300. It came free with the house, and how cool is that not only is it a perfect fit, but the colors go with our furnishings.

Meanwhile the moldings that were tacked in place are now fully secured with nails.

While we were working out under the pergola’s table, our intrusive neighbor walked over to chat. Evidently they are enamored with Austin and plan on returning to buy a house. She said there is no housing shortage there and will be buying a house that will be built for them as they want a supersized property.

Joe Rogan lives in a suburb outside of Austin, Perhaps they might become neighbors, or they can stalk him. JJ is a big follower of J.R. And quotes him all the time. Mucho crazy.

Other than the intrusion otherwise a calm and peaceful day. We both sensed some awkwardness, and “Maggie” and I both think she feels some distance.

Did you know that 30% of people collecting Social Security have no other stream of income?

Roasted a chicken on the grill, and cooked a bag of Trader Joe’s petite peas, but the way I do it is in a frying pan with caramelized onions. Pretty low carb and healthy, but also tastes great.

I got Maggie involved with the stained glass project. Pretty much teaching her to slow down and just take your time to enjoy the experience. I’m reprogramming her to relax. Also she now loves not having any schedule or a list of things that need to get done.

Tomorrow one of the kids, the father has a job interview. Yonkers has gangs and he is a bit scared to go back to his tenure position job. It is obvious he is being targeted. Photo’s of him and his truck were posted on the Internet.

We will have both grandkids tomorrow. On Friday we will have the grandson.

Two cantaloupes are mature in our surprise patch. I harvested one earlier in the week. Mighty good, but only the size of softballs. I will likely harvest another one to share the experience with the grandkids.

The watermelons seem to be slow growers at this point, but I expect some acceleration soon in their development.

Anyways today was a fine day, and pretty much the day just evolved in an organic manner. Really relaxing, and if you remove the minor intrusion, a perfect day in retirement.

Cal
 
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I kinda fell in love with “Maggie” because she was low maintenance.

It was a bait and switch. LOL

That’s alright, I realize I’m a caretaker at heart.

Lately I have her in a good space, and things are getting sorted out. A happy woman is quite an accomplishment.

Life and the love of our Baby-Victorian has been great.

Even the intrusive neighbors are under control.

The stained glass window just barely clears the thick art and crafts molding from 1912. Looks like it was designed for us like a custom job.

We went to an antique lighting store in Saugerties and bought a period correct original ceiling light for the dinning room. Was not inexpensive, and in fact was a lucky find.

We have a Victorian era china glass cabinet we bought from the previous owner of the house, and there is a period correct sidebar made of oak. We need another sidebar to complete the room.

A kinda stunning room, Visually and historically interesting. Looking forward to having house guests and dinner parties.

Don’t tell Maggie, but I’d like to squeeze in a baby Steinway into the living room. No TV down here. I don’y watch TV, but we have one in our bedroom.

There is a double set of pocket doors that separate the living room and the diningroom. It is a small house of only 1500 square feet, but it has elegance and mucho charm.

The yards are broken into many separate environments. Various gardens and habitats. The rabbits act as if it is their yard. They seem annoyed that we are invading their space. They are mighty cute. No string beans or snow peas for us. The rabbits ate them. Oh-well…

When I mow the rear lawn I sometimes have to move small frogs to safety. Last one I moved to safety was a Leopard Tree Frog, but I also have relocated Spring Peepers that are about the size of my thumbnail.

Property is only 40x200 feet, Pretty much a haven and heaven. Definately has “You suck factor.”

Cal
 
Kinda funny, from being a celeb, Go-Daddy girl, and a digital influencer, “Maggie” has turned anti-social.

She also adopted the idea of putting your creativity out there as a gift, no strings attached.

Life is not so unsettled and she now enjoys peace. We started the day with no plans, and it turned out o be a productive, enjoyable, and peaceful day.

Cal
 
On one hand you have mucho consumption: retail sales are up indicating a robust economy. The DOW is almost up 500 points after overcoming last week’s “speed-bump.” Pretty much the Yen carry trade is as if it did not happen or does not exist.

Then the Manufacturing Indexes for Philadelphia and the Empire State (N.Y.) are depressed, in fact the N.Y. Manufacturing Index is down for the 9th month in a row.

The money has to come from somewhere, it points to debt and increases in debt. Perhaps the moderating interest rates have sparked a ReFi boom, and this is where the money is coming from, but this ReFi boom just is happening and has not trickled fully into the economy.

What is being downplayed is wage inflation which is 3.6%. The CPI is not a tell all. Inflation is still present and is higher than the target 2%.

They say Walmart now is drawing in higher income shoppers. Hmmm. Home Depot is kinda counting on a September rate cut. Hmmm. How confusing, and what to believe?

So the dollar’s purchasing power will continue to be eroded. A lot of dollar strength is due to our economy, but also our political stability. I would not deem us so politically stable.

So my takeaway is that we exist in an Island of Stability where chaos theory is at work. Like grains of sand that could avalanch at any time, and at a certain point all it will take is a single grain of sand to have a collapse. What I am saying is a history awaits us, one that is fraught.

BTW I have my doubts with paper assets…

Cal
 
A third of home builders are marking down prices due to a slowdown. Pretty much an 8 month low in confidence. High interest rates are to blame.

New car inventories are also up, and this has forced the price on used cars to soften. The follow through in cars will likely also happen in a similar manner to existing homes up for sale.

I mentioned the Philly Manufacturing index and the Empire State Manufacturing index. Pretty much aligned with a slow down in the economy.

So what gives with the stock market rebound and current rally over the past 6-days? Pretty much I don’t understand or don’t know. To me there is no trend and there is a knife edge of balance going on. Things don’t make sense…

So my thinking could the “protected-class” meaning the top 20% of earners be responsible for all the sustained consumerism that is keeping growth alive in our economy? This protected-class have more disposable income and are likely home owners, and to compound this by definition have excess capitol, savings and are overall the “investment-class.”

I see a divide as a way to explain the dichotomy and a pretty clear division of have and have nots. A pretty big disparity of wealth and who is underwater with a debt load.

Also in the headlines are some big money managers doing big moves selling. My guess here is that they are locking in profits and are willing to sit on cash to ride out the probable volatility of some very mixed signals. Keep your ammo dry as they say.

Know that a book called “The New Market Wizards” profiled big money managers and huge hedge fund managers. Pretty much the 10% that are winners in the stock market who beat the 90% that are losers in the zero sum game of trading comes down to a personality profile.

There are many like minds that have big names that are all doing the same thing, also the Central banks accumulating and hoarding gold. I kinda sense a wake-up call.

Interesting that some were professional gamblers. Pretty much being argued was not only being a winning trader/money manager a personality profile, but it was suggested as being innate.

Cal
 
The fire department, Police, and Con Ed showed up when a large dump truck got hung up on a utility line up our block near the local sink hole that is a bit of a tank-trap.

The grandson loves all the trucks and the gas line workers. I happen to ask another dump truck driver, his spin on the economy, and he said, “It’s very slow, and I’m lucky to get three days of work a week.”

This is a man who is part of a team of a contractor for Con Ed.

Cal
 
DOW is up 550 points, meanwhile the yield curve has been inverted for an extended long time.

What to believe? Pretty much I don’t know up from down.

Harvested a second surprise cantaloupe today and it was gifted to the grand daughter. It ended up being a big deal.

Somehow I made some progress with the stained glass window.

Cal
 
MrFujicaman said:
A question Dan-does it run off 12 volts or does the pack have a voltage step up unit?
Click to expand...

It's a B.B. Battery BP2.3-12V 2.3Ah C20 1.75VPC/25C Sealed Lead Acid About $30 on Amazon

Doesn't have a real long life; Some specs say one year approx. Maybe I should build something that is more longer lasting? Needs full charge right after use.

I could send you a picture of the insides. Very neatly laid out. These were $15 when I last replaced them. Video Recorder Batteries.

Norman 200b Fresh Batteries by Nokton48, on Flickr

Homemade Norman 200B Charger 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr
 
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GeorgeG: thanks for the like.

So now the cute baby bunnies are getting big. They are well sheltered in my back-backyard and are so well fed that at this point they are kinda oversized. Pretty much little “monsters” I have somewhat cultivated to terrorize our neighbors dismay. They are somewhat domesticated and tame. I would say they have girth and are kinda supersized. Ha-ha, I love it. They are bold and somewhat tame. Not really skittish.

My intrusive neighbor reports that they torment their dogs by hanging out on just the other side of their chain link kennel fence to cause barking attacks.

Oh-well, and Ha-ha-ha…

The idea of having a Renold’s Hills studio isn’t a good idea anymore. “Maggie” suggests having a real getaway property. I can see the point, and likely a better investment. More of a stepping stone approach further north into the Hudson Valley. With global warming you never know, and Peekskill not only is a river town, but also is a commuter town that is about an hour away from NYC.

These value added likely translate into likely big jumps in price inflation. There may be a time to cash out, or our home quite will grow at an accelerated rate because of location-location-location. It is said these are the three most important reasons to use when selecting a home.

The Baby-Victorian as the home base, and a not so far away getaway to recreate and to expand. In a way the next move could be to further downsize and economize to bunker down.

A recent article suggests that we age in spurts: age 44 and age 60 are suggested. I can say about those times in my life I denoted a change in my metabolism where it got slower. Hmmm. Mine likely started earlier at age 40, and then later around 64 or 65. They suspect another around the age of 72.

I suspect this has to do with hormones. In my thirties and 40’s I had more facial hair as far as my beard goes, and then I have the long errant hairs in my eye brows of an old man that I have to groom. Somehow my arm pit hair has become scant like perhaps a 13-14 year old, and my hair on my arms is absent as if shaved or bald.

If I dyed out my grey I could pass for 40 because of being a skinny bitch with muscle and muscle tone.

Had a dream last night that Paul Simon was teaching me how to “pattern-pick.” I have a Simon and Garfunkel Greatest Hits compilation book, so I will start digging into reading music as practice, and to learn harmony.

I have the sheet music in a book of The Complete Beatles. In my study of the Circle of 5ths pretty much the Beatles stuck to only the 2-3 keys to the left and right of the key of “C.” Pretty much they stuck to only 5-6 keys out of the 12, and they were the simpler keys.

Jack hammering has started on my corner with the natural gas line replacement. Mucho noise…

Cal
 
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