New York April Nyc Meet-up

[Rayt]

I know people too that did exactly that, my mom and my sister in law. It is not easy. Immigration is a whole different discussion though, because of different histories. I was talking about the myth that gets perpetuated of being able to 'make it' in the US, more than the reality.
In reality the differences in the systems are not nearly as big as they are made out to be. For the most part social services work better in europe because voters expect and demand that they work. In the US people expect them not to work or pretend they don't exist. There simply is less incentive for these services to improve themselves.
I think being poor in the US is especially tough, and it is a harder cycle to break than it is in much of Europe. I am generalizing of course, but having a safety net generally does contribute to upward mobility.

It’s probably a subject more apt to talk over beers than on social media when words sometimes don’t translate well. My background is similar to Calzone’s also American but have been living abroad for 30 years and have explored the worse slums in Asia. I have travelled extensively around Europe having worked for European companies most of my career and also some US, Chinese and Japanese firms. I suppose I am older and have seen and experienced a lot. I sometimes am absolutely overwhelmed. Seeing entire families sleeping on the sidewalk. I right now live in an absolute social utopia where 60+ percent of the population is on public assistance. There is no need for the young to strive at least not out of necessity. At the same time I see brave young people from Vietnam learning Japanese in 3 months so they can get a job at some Tokyo sushi bar as migrant workers. These people are my heroes like my parents who worked 70 hours a week so their kids can get their degrees.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I right now live in an absolute social utopia where 60+ percent of the population is on public assistance

Not that I would like to benefit from such a horrendous situation myself ... but, just in case, where's that?

 

[Calzone]

**Gear Alert**
My two nice little Minolta 7D camera's bit the dust, I feel so bad.
One the sensor is shot all the colors are orange when it takes pictures,
the other turns on but doesn't shot. But wait I took the sensor from the
one that didn't shot and put it in the other camera that was orange and
drum roll please it works I fixed it!

Bob,

You are amazing. So now you have a "new" camera. LOL.

Anyways recycling is great, and there is value added and this "new" camera has a story that has a happy ending.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Much respect to people who do this. Buddha gave up his wealth in search for nirvana abet without the coke and hookers. I am sure your cited examples did become a little wiser as a result and reached at least the second stage of enlightenment with the blow.

Ray,

Something to be learned even by other's mistakes.

"It pays to remain humble," I say.

My Baby-Victorian is really a small two bedroom house with the bonus of an office space. It was advertised as a 4-bedroom; but one room perhaps you could fit a crib, so it ends up being a walk-in closet because there is a lack/shortage of closet space; the odd shaped turret room really can't fit a bed, but it makes a wonderful office because of mucho windows.

The size of the kitchen, dining room and livingroom is on the scale of a two bedroom Madhattan apartment.

I love this house because of its character, nothing really fancy, and certainly it needs lots of work being over a hundred years old. Still I would not want a larger house because this one is living below our means and is easily sustainable.

Peekskill is a city that is 44% Latino with the remaining 56% split evenly between blacks and whites; working class; and not wealthy; in fact we likely have the high income for our neighborhood.

Mike Tyson it was reported was spending $25K a month to landscape his mansion that eventually he had to sell. How crazy is that?

I know I like luxury goods like a Rolex, Audi, Linhof, Leicas, Titanium retro bicycles, vintage bass's, vintage guitar amps, and vintage guitars, but at a certain level, my present level, I think I have more than I need. All these precious treasures were accumulated over decades, as I had the wisdom to buy things that could store wealth when they were less costly, be timeless and classic, yet appreciate in value.

Also I live only to impress myself, and this is pretty easy because I'm a rather simple guy.

"Never knew anyone with a complicated life that was happy," I say. I promote myself as a lazy-slacker mainly because I want a simple life.

With photography I'm in John Goodman mode. When the Roseanne scan-DELL came out he was asked about having remorse for never winning an Oscar, and his response was, "I have been nominated 7 times, and if by now it didn't happen it never will."

Decades ago I decided to keep my creative integrity and to work a day-job. Today I'm glad I did. I am free of the burden of commodifying my work and having others dictate control over my work. I am free.

Another thing is that my gal is a celeb and a public figure. What a burden that is... I would not wish that on anyone.

Moral of the story is not only to be humble, but to remain humble.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Ray,

You have had an interesting life.

Because of our backgrounds part of the experience of knowing and having experience the disadvantages of poverty is that in my case I embraced risk, risky behavior, and perhaps even self destructive behavior because I had so little to loose.

I wonder if this gets filtered out of the American Myth that involves the rags-to-riches stories. The truth is many fall through the cracks and never make it.

So in my life I have done some mucho crazy things. I should be dead many times, and I lived dangerously, yet today I'm 63 years old.

I never thought I would live this long, and now it looks like my probable lifespan could be 111 years.

Cal

 

[Out to Lunch]

Yeehaw! Let's add a year and bring it up to 112. Cheers, OtL

 

[Calzone]

Yeehaw! Let's add a year and bring it up to 112. Cheers, OtL

OTL,

I believe the oldest man alive is some Japanese man who is 115.

Of course you know to live so long requires a good attitude, a reason to live, and most of all enough money.

I use no meds, I have a low BMI, and the only underlying condition I have is Cold Aglutinin Disease which is "Idiopathic" meaning that I have this disease for no underlying cause.

CAD is like a slow growing Cancer. I have a high/elevated level of IgM in my blood that cause my red blood cells to stick together under cold conditions. Basically my blood changes viscosity depending on temperature.

Generally this condition/disease happens after contracting Hep-IT-Tie-tiss. I am asymptomatic, meaning I need no treatment. People with accute CAD need constant transfusions because their bodies can't maintain a healthy level of red blood cells, but in my case it is not an issue. I never-ever had Hep-it-TIE-Tiss.

The only thing I have to do is avoid prolonged exposure to freezing cold. I can turn blue in my face and hands due to constricted blood flow, but even in a polar vortex I just have to dress warm and limit my cold exposure to intervals less than say 40 minutes or an hour.

Basically CAD is a form of a very slow growing Cancer (uncontrolled growth) that I could outlive.

Genetically I'm Cantonese, so in the tropics CAD would never be an issue. We suspect in my case it might be genetic.

In blood tests they say all my red blood cells are enlarged/big, but the reason for this is that red blood cell typically live only 3 months and die, but all my red blood cells seem to be new. As red blood cells grow old they become smaller.

So I have all the right stuff to be a contender for the oldest man alive.

Physically currently I have the same skinny muscular build that I had when i was 16-17 years old. Same weight, about 135 pounds at 5'10".

Cal

 

[Particular]

It’s probably a subject more apt to talk over beers than on social media when words sometimes don’t translate well.

We do like drinking beers at meetups, at least we used to. Drop by if you find yourself in NY after all the lock downs etc.

 

[Range-rover]

Bob,

You are amazing. So now you have a "new" camera. LOL.

Anyways recycling is great, and there is value added and this "new" camera has a story that has a happy ending.

Cal

Thanks Cal, I spend two hours on it yesterday, I went online and there was
a site where it explains taking the camera apart to get to the sensor which
helped a lot, the new camera body is mint and now with a replaced sensor.
To bad I can't find a sensor for a Leica M9 body I would switch that.🙂

 

[Range-rover]

Well it looks like there really opening the city, maybe in a few months
we can get together, maybe in Yonkers now because it's the middle for
everyone.

 

[Particular]

**Gear Alert**
My two nice little Minolta 7D camera's bit the dust, I feel so bad.
One the sensor is shot all the colors are orange when it takes pictures,
the other turns on but doesn't shot. But wait I took the sensor from the
one that didn't shot and put it in the other camera that was orange and
drum roll please it works I fixed it!

Awesome! That is called plug and play. I had to look up what a Minolta 7D is. Does that have the same ccd sensor as the R-D1?

 

[Calzone]

Awesome! That is called plug and play. I had to look up what a Minolta 7D is. Does that have the same ccd sensor as the R-D1?

Christian,

Bob is pretty amazing.

Cal

 

[jszokoli]

For the meet-up maybe that beer garden in Astoria???
Joe

 

[Calzone]

Well it looks like there really opening the city, maybe in a few months
we can get together, maybe in Yonkers now because it's the middle for
everyone.

Bob,

I'm a skinny bitch and I don't carry that much weight to warrant a Yonkers Meet-Up.

I still kinda favor outdoors like maybe the Beer Garden in Astoria.

Better safe than sorry.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

For the meet-up maybe that beer garden in Astoria???
Joe

Joe,

My thinking also.

Cal

 

[Particular]

For the meet-up maybe that beer garden in Astoria???
Joe

Sounds right to me. I'll bring my vaccination card.

 

[jszokoli]

It's a little unclear if they are open or not...

https://bohemianhall.com/direction-hours/

Joe

 

[Calzone]

So for the ultimate challenge for any homeowner is getting rid of Japanese Knotweed. I have a stand of established knotweed in the beyond the back-backyard that extends from the fence and down the slope to Dickey Brook wich is 36 feet.

The stand is somewhat contained by my neighbor's property due to his trees.

Know that Japanese Knotweed is likely one of the most invasive plants around with runners causing uncontained spread.

So a war is declared. Because of the Frog Ghetto no chemicals so this turns into a nasty street fight where I cut down the bamboo like stalks and choke and smoother the roots using tarps.

Excavation is out of the question. Some of this infestation extends into the dead end. They also say it might take years of cutting and smothering to kill off the Knotweed, especially if the use of chemicals is avoided.

From my reading in England they have a serious problem with this weed. Anyways it seems that the shade from a canopy of say trees has prevented its spread.

It grows so fast that it shades out any competitors.

Over the tarps I'll have a container garden. How Hill-Billy is that?

Cal

 

[Calzone]

It's a little unclear if they are open or not...

https://bohemianhall.com/direction-hours/

Joe

Joe,

We will have to keep an eye on when they reopen.

I have two vaccination cards: one for each injection.

When I went to the dentist for a cleaning after more than a year the hygenist said, "You lost a lot of weight."

Has it been a nearly a year and a half since our last Meet-Up?

Anyways I think I look younger. My hair due to Covid was down to my waist, but due to a foam insulation spray accident I gave myself a haircut. "Maggie" says its a bit uneven, but it looks good to me. LOL.

I have more books to show. One is not a "Monster" and is kinda sensible. A new design and a new look. The new "Monster Book" the "Book of Proofs" uses 17x25 1/2 inch pages, and I increased the image size a little, but the impact is mucho great.

The "Workbook" (original Monster Book) is not so professional looking anymore, and truth be told it was just a down and dirty experiment as a proof of principle (I know re-DICK-U-LUS) but that was the point.

Perhaps I'll bring my new camera, "The Devil Christian." LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Deflation is really about "oversupply," and inflation is really about "undersupply."

Another way of looking at this is just plain supply and demand.

Lots of war mongering in the news lately, and yesterday I declared war on an invasive plant called Japanese Knotweed because it invaded my yard.

My weapon of choice is a pick-ax, but last night at Home Depo the had none, and today at the 59th Street Home Depo they also had none.

So steel, lumber are in short supply and have tripled in price. Chicken is the new shortage in the headlines, but here at RFF I say there is a Pick-Ax shortage.

Last night I talked with "Eddie" a worker at Home Depo, and he mentions that there are all kinds of supply disruptions and shortages.

One of my newsletters mentioned that for 3 decades we had a time of deflationary pressures and an oversupply, but now we are beginning to have signs of inflation and have entered into a time of shortages.

Are we regressing-to-the-mean? Will these inflationary pressures subside soon? Will this be a long inflationary period?

Also I noticed that the supply vintage guitars, bass'es, and amps has become slim. Owners are hoarding to store value as if ingots of gold.

So I hope to secure a pick-ax before the day is over before the price triples like steel and lumber (the materials utilized to make a pick-ax).

This clocking in on the Main Campus has been good for me. Pretty much I still take and catch my trains at the same time, but three times I beat the clock and on a Friday I get to leave early because of a mandate of no overtime unless approved.

In the morning and afternoon walks from and to Grand Central I have to powerwalk and it is a bit of a race like a time trial. This adds to my fitness.

In a few minutes I'll be leaving, even earlier than before.

Don't forget Mother's Day is coming up, unless you want to get spanked on Sunday. LOL.

Cal