How Fast We (USA) Spend Our Money

If this doesn't scare the $h1t out of you, you are brain dead.

Social Security

This morning I got an email about Social Security from a friend. The email said that the US Senate had recently voted to extend Social Security benefits to illegal aliens. It contained a petition directed at the Whitehouse urging the president to veto this legislation should it become law. The email prompted me to blog a bit about Social Security.

I have spent most of my adult life thinking and saying that the Social Security system was going to go broke and that I would never live to see a penny of that money which I had paid in over the years. I now believe that I was wrong. Don't misunderstand me. I still think that Social Security is a very bad idea. I've been in enough Multi-Level Marketing plans over the years to know that Social Security is going to end badly. What I was wrong about is how it is going to end. I recently read an article where the author was describing his take on what the future held. One of the things he mentioned was the effect that the boomers were going to have on Social Security. He did not think that Social Security was going to go bankrupt. In fact he maintained that they would pay out every dollar they promised. The only change he predicted for Social Security was the phasing out of the Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA).

He predicted that the government will continue to create ever increasing amounts of money just as they are doing now to "fight the current economic crisis." Social Security payments will be one of the things that will be paid with this new money. The introduction of all this new money into the system will ultimately lead to price inflation. So, rest assured, you are going to get your $1500 a month or whatever the SSA is promising you, but you probably won't be able to buy too much with it.

Canadian Corned Beef Hash?

Last summer I drove up to Alaska. I drove because I had always wanted to drive the AlCan and anyway I am not a big fan of flying. We picked up Linda in Anchorage but for most of the way up and all the way back it was just me and the dogs. My camper has a refrigerator but I don't use it unless I am parked. Driving to Alaska and back there is a lot more non parking than there is parking. Since the refrigerator was not on that much, we relied a lot on non perishable foods. The dogs of course had their dry dog food but they both, and Dixie especially, like to have a little something mixed in with it for variety.

One of the things that all three of us like is corned beef hash. At home, I will often open up a can in the morning and heat up some of it to eat with my eggs. I mix a couple of tablespoons in with the dogs dry food. They love it. My camper is small so I try not to load it down with a lot of things that I can get along the way. When I left Pelham last year, I think I had 2 or 3 cans of corned beef hash loaded in the camper. On the first leg of the trip, Regan and Gantt were with us and we didn't eat any of the corned beef hash. We dropped Regan and Gantt off in Grapevine and headed up through the heartland to Montana and crossed over into Canada. We were well into Alberta before we consumed the last of our corned beef hash. At my next grocery stop I checked but did not see any corned beef hash in that store. I continued looking for it through northern British Columbia and all of the Yukon. I didn't find any more corned beef hash until I got to Alaska.

Do Canadian's eat corned beef hash? I know they have corned beef, I saw it in the stores. They also have potatoes. Do they just cut out the middle man and prepare their own at home? If you know the facts on this, let me know. If you are a Canadian and haven't tried corned beef hash, give it a try. If you can't find it, and want to try it, be on the lookout for a gray dodge pickup with a white camper and Alabama plates. The next time I pass through I intend to have a stock of it.

Audit the FED

Any organization with the sort of power the Federal Reserve has needs to be audited periodically. This article talks about a proposal to enable such an audit to be carried out.

The Canadian Health Care System

In this article from the Denver Post, a Canadian citizen who has lived in the US for 17 years compares the US Health Care System to the Canadian Health Care System. I found what she had to say very interesting.

Some Real Science

Real science from a team of MIT researchers.

Finally, Some Light At The End Of The Tunnel

This article from the Wall Street Journal gives some hope that finally people are beginning to question this climate change BS.

Eat Soup and Loose Weight

This article on BBC News says it is all about the hormone called ghrelin.

Adios GMC

Sold my 1976 GMC motorhome yesterday. I originally bought it in 2003. Actually I bought it on the last day of 2002 and picked it up the day after new years. No tax consideration, that was just the way it worked out.

They say the two happiest days in the life of a boat owner are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it. Having been a boat owner myself, I can pretty well substantiate that. The GMC was different. I had been looking for one for quite a while before I located mine on a car lot here in Pelham. As with all the TZE's, it had a story with it. Also, as with all of the TZE's and most other motorhomes, as best I can determine, it required a good bit of tinkering. Over the 6 years and 5 months that I owned it, I replaced and/or repaired quite a few items.

But the repairs are not what I will remember about the GMC. It went with me on some great trips. Like the time me and the puppies took it to the Kendall Campground in Kentucky for the World's Longest Yard Sale. And the trip to Gulf Shores to watch Ted play baseball. There were several trips to Auburn Football games and best of all the two weeks at Anastasia State Park in Jacksonville waiting on GE to be born.

If you look at what I paid for it, add in the upkeep and fuel costs and then see what I got for it, you would say damn, that was a poor investment. But if you factor in the worth of the good times it enabled, it was the best money I ever spent. I hope it serves it's new owner as well.

A Chance For TBS To Make Amends

I have been PO'd at TBS ever since they dropped the Braves. This morning I read this article that says they may be interested in picking up the production of "My Name Is Earl". If they do that, they will definitely be out of my dog house.

Dick Cheney

I've been seeing a lot of articles lately about things that the former VP has to say. I'm not like Connie Darville, I don't have a gambling problem. But, I will wager at times and I'd bet you a gold ring against a doughnut hole that when ole Dick gets to his final reward, Saddam Hussein will be his room mate or at the very least his suite mate.

Another Milestone

Several years ago the company that I worked for lowered their early retirement age from 55 to 50. At that time, I was still in my forties. In July of 1997, I reached a milestone. I turned 50. From then on, I knew things would be different because I could retire if I had to. It did not mean a whole lot, just a little added sense of security.

Earlier this month I reached another milestone. The Social Security Administration lets you go ahead and sign up 90 days before you are eligible to receive your first check. I suppose that gives them 90 days to handle the paperwork. Since I will be 62 in July, I will be eligible to receive my first check August 1. So on May 1, I was able to sign up to draw Social Security and I did just that. Some folks have asked me "why don't you wait for a while so your check will be more?" The best way I can respond is to tell something I learned while I worked for my father at Miller's Garage.

My father ran his business before credit cards became so ubiquitous. Never the less, there were people who needed credit. Then as now for most folks in this part of the world, an automobile was essential for getting to and from work. If your vehicle feel into disrepair and could not be used, you probably would not be able to work and could easily loose your job. So people would bring in their vehicles for my father to work on and, paraphrasing Whimpy, tell him I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for car repair today.

In his office, my father kept a stack of plain receipt books like you could buy in the dime store. He would write the name of the customer along the top line, the nature of the repair on the lines on the left side , dollar amounts in the right hand column and total it up at the bottom. There would be an original and a carbon. The carbon he kept for his records, the original he gave to the customer when they paid up. (Here is where we come to the part that relates to the SSA.) Some of his credit customers would come in and pay with cash but quite a few of them would write him a check. Most of the checks he would take home to mama and she would gather several of them together, fill out a deposit slip and mail them off to the Alexander City Bank. Occasionally someone would come in and write my father a check and after they left, he would go to town to their bank and cash their check. He said that, in their case, he needed to get up there and get his money while they still had some in the bank. I have sized up SSA to be that sort of check writer and that is the reason I signed up to receive my first social security check on August 1.

The RV World of 1937

According to this inflation calculator the 1937 dollar mentioned in this video would be worth about $15.00 today. Still a great bargain for a weeks rent.

Core Values Of Survival

Lew Rockwell had a link to these 10 Core values of Survival on his web page a couple of days ago. They make sense. Nothing I haven't heard before but it is nice to see it concisely stated in one place.

Why I Welcome Global Warming.

Every time I turn around, someone is bemoaning the fact that we are experiencing global warming. To tell you the truth, when I look at this past winter's heating bills I have a hard time believing that we are truly experiencing global warming, man-made or not. But if we are, I welcome it.

You see, I am retired, fixed income and all that. It doesn't take a Harvard economist to see that this country, in fact the whole world, is inflating the money supply. For folks like me, that means that in the future my fixed income will buy less and less. If the climate warms up, I will have to buy less fuel for heat. Also, increased CO2 will make plants grow better. That is going to be important because what little money I have will no doubt have to go to pay my taxes and I will have to grow what I eat. More CO2 will help the little plants feed me.

So when I hear someone talking about global warming, I say bring it. I would rather be laying around under a shade tree with a full stomach trying to keep cool than to be freezing to death and starving. Think about it!

Interesting Technology

While I don't think much of man made global warming, I do think that anything that will increase our sources of available energy or that will help us better utilize what we have is worth while. When I read about this technology that converts waste CO2 to methane, I found it very interesting. You can check it out for yourself here.

Marijuana Debate on Larry King Show

Linda saw this discussion on "Larry King" and she said that it was a good one. Today, I saw a link to it on the blog at Lewrockwell.com. I watched it and I agree it makes a lot of sense.

Old Glory Insurance

Still one of my favorites. You will have to watch a commercial first.

"What If...?"

I'm an Artist Too !

After reading this article in the TimesOnLine, I've come to the conclusion that I am an artist as well. I especially appreciated the Einstein quote - "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?”