What is it with this ugly dog breed? Suddenly, they are super popular and worth their weight in gold and I have no idea as to why. Did some celebrity have a French bull dog as an annoying lap dog?
Sorry, French bull dogs are ugly and obnoxious. I dislike their smashed-looking face, bug eyes, and bat ears. I think dogs from the pound are better. Yup, that's where we will get our next dog - from the animal shelter.
People say that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.
I beg to differ. There are four things that are certain: death, taxes, dishes, and laundry.
OK. I'm a child of the 70's and 80's. Well, I'm no longer a child as I'm encroaching upon retirement and many of my friends are grandparents (I have a grand-dog). I also belong to AARP. Bonus: I qualify for the "life experience" discount at many local grocery stores on Tuesdays.
I have my sassy set of friends who love life and who give women half our age a run for their money. Sure, we may not be quite as taught as we used to be back in our 20's, but we are spicy and like to have fun. If we wanted to we could buy looks with plastic surgeries and facelifts. Some of us have. Whatever. Many of us are incorporating our graying hair into fun and funky styles. I thought of a name for my California group of gal pals I hang out with as we embrace our graying hair color with sass and attitude. We shall refer to ourselves as Tarnished Silver.
I'm off track, as usual. Shocker.
Waaaaaaaaay back in 1985 I used to go to the bars with SSP. We loved going to: Iron Horse, Norma Jeans, First Avenue, bars near U of M, Wallaby's, Ground Round, etc.... all the usual spots in Minneapolis at the time.
At the time, there was band called Dead or Alive who had some top hits we LOVED! I believe they were from Liverpool or Manchester. JM - help me out! The group had the infectious hit titled, "You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round."
To this day if I hear this song I
am up on the floor dancing. I simply can't help myself. I know you
know the song. If you can't remember, here it is. Don't think that the
below video is the end of this blog post. There's more. I know you
are chomping at the bit and hanging on the edge of your seats for more. LOL.
My broke sister-in-law wanted me to meet her at her bank today to meet with a representative. Yup. It's just what I wanted to do the day before Thanksgiving at 3:30 PM.
I'm delving through her finances and piecing together her situation. Here's the problem. She tap dances and does not give me the whole story. I have to prod and pull information out of her. I need the whole story in order to help her.
Figuring out her income was a story all unto itself.
Figuring out her expenses were yet another story all unto itself.
My sister-in-law does not get a bank statement. What? She said she calls to get the balance. She needs to get a bank statement monthly and scrutinize it. My gut tells me she does get a bank statement, but she does not want to show me.
Same with the credit cards. She says she does not get statements. I asked her how she verifies purchases on her cards to know if they are legitimate. She doesn't. She does not have online access, either, as she is not really technically savvy. She pays the minimum amount due on her credit cards. The minimum payment does not keep up with the accruing interest on her cards.
Since yesterday I have identified $50 she has been throwing away monthly without even really trying. Fifty bucks is a big deal to her. She was paying bank fees on her checking account, and she also had a subscription to a clothing catalog she was not even aware she had. What other recurring charges are there? She said the statements for all her accounts are forthcoming in the mail as she finally agreed she need to see them. I'm tapping my toes waiting.
In the meantime, at the bank this afternoon, we managed to negotiate her 19% credit card interest rate down to 4.25% and lower her monthly payment by $50. The catch is that she can't charge on that credit card anymore. Good.
The guy at the bank was very nice. He was saying he's seeing a lot of people in trouble lately. People used their credit cards to make ends meet. Now that their credit cards are maxed out people are desperate for $. They are taking out home equity lines of credit and second mortgages to pay off their credit cards.
That is not a good sign.
It's unwise to use secured debt to pay for unsecured debt. I see another housing bubble bursting in the not-to-distant future.
The immediate impacts of inflation over the last couple of years or so have been mitigated by people using credit. Now people can't pay. People can't "borrow" themselves out of their financial hole any longer.
Here's the bomb as it is going off: elderly, retired folks who have outlived their retirement savings. They are also thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
Oh, we need to also mention they are hobbling around from the recent surgeries they had on their backs, knees, shoulders, etc., leaving them unable to properly care for themselves nor their pets.
Here's where I am frustrated. My sister-in-law, who is a good person, is elderly and broke. She's had a few surgeries we have nursed her through over the past few years. She always manages to hurt herself so self-sufficiency is never quite achieved. She never married, lives alone, and has no children.
I'm frustrated because she HAD money set aside for her from her mother when she sold her house in Marin County. She blew it all on stupid stuff. She blew it on trips. She blew it on QVC "as seen on TV" crap. She blew it on shoes and clothes she never wore and that I just recently donated to the GoodWill as it's long past a date to return it for a refund.
Now she's in financial dire straights and coming to me asking for money and advice.
I'm pissed. She HAD money. She blew it. Now she's crying that she's broke and two steps away from being homeless. She has three credit cards and owes about $25,000 in credit card debt. She has $200 in her checking account and no savings. Her very low fixed income is not keeping up with expenses.
The rest of the family has turned their back on her. Should I do the same? I've worked hard all of my life to save for retirement forgoing a lot of things other people had. I don't want to pour our hard-earned retirement money into a bottomless pit. Who's to say she won't rack up debt again if we paid her credit card debt off? It's like telling an alcoholic not to drink as their health is in danger. We all know they continue to drink.
I just got my kids off the payroll, I don't want another "kid" to be financially responsible for. We are talking about a 78-year old woman who lived at home most of her life rent free. She had plenty of time to put money away for retirement. She did not. She was more interested in what was made in China at Target and accumulating piles of crap I am now trying to figure out how to sell or get rid of.
SAVE YOUR MONEY, PEOPLE!!!!!! STOP SPENDING IT ON STUPID STUFF! WE CAN'T BAIL YOU OUT OF YOUR POOR LIFE CHOICES! Sure, I would have liked to travel Europe for months on end, bought a fancy car, and eat out every night. Instead, I SAVED FOR MY RETIREMENT. Sorry you did not. Don't expect me, or society, to bail you out.
Whew. I vented.
Here's a parting thought for you all. Every time you make a purchase, think of who will need to dispose of it upon your death. 99% of the time your purchases are useless crap. Do not even think of making a purchase without thinking of how you (or those who will need to clean up after you) will get rid of it.
Your kids and relatives will thank you....as well as the environment.
The media is trying to tell us inflation has tampered down. I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps inflation for 2023 was 3.7%, but that's on top of the 10% of 2022. In reality, we are facing inflation of 15% on everything from a couple years ago. How many of you got a 15% raise just to keep up?
I don't see many raised hands.
I feel like the piranhas are biting at us one little chunk at a time with the price increases here and there ranging from: groceries, utilities, gas, health insurance, homeowners insurance, auto insurance, etc. It's a feeding frenzy and we are the bait for these nasty fishes. Inflation will gnaw at us middle class bit by bit until there is nothing left but a pool of red water.
I think there is a silent depression going on economically. I personally know of many who have been laid off. I think there are more layoffs than what people realize.
When inflation first hit people used credit cards to stretch their budgets. The problem is that interest rates have skyrocketed and unless you pay off your credit cards monthly people are digging themselves into a financial grave.
Then....all the government COVID subsidies/credits timed out along with the reprieve for student loan repayments. The elimination of COVID subsidies/credits along with people now needing to resume payments on their debt has put even more people wondering how they are going to survive financially.
It's all come home to roost.
I have so many pent up rants about my in-laws I do not even know where to start. I will start as to whom I am inviting over for Thanksgiving......and more importantly addressing those who will not receive an invitation.
As I posted earlier, I will have a smaller than normal crowd here come next Thursday for Thanksgiving. I'm VERY ok with that.
Here's where it gets weird. My niece, KB, announced that she is moving to Texas with her baby daddy right after the holidays. WTF? My niece, KB, has herself entangled with a guy who wanted to have a kid, but not a wife. I never liked her baby daddy. Nobody in the family likes the baby daddy.
My son, who is the most non-judgemental person in the world, dislikes KB's baby daddy with a passion. I have to admit that my son is a little protective of his cousin. However, to my son's credit he has tried on multiple occasions to have his bad first few impressions changed. Everybody has a bad day, or two, or three, right? Cut them some slack, right?
Nope.
KB's baby daddy is and always will be a selfish @sshole.
Here's what I see happening from my almost 6 decades rotating around on this third rock from the sun. BabyDaddy wants to move to Texas to rip BabyMomma (who he as NO intentions on marrying) away from her family. This way, BabyDaddy will be in FULL control without the pesky family in the way who ultimately has KB's best interest at heart.
BabyDaddy is dragging KB to Texas, claiming his job is taking him there. I call bullshit. It's BabyDaddy's way of abandoning them without being the bad guy.
When the baby was born, BabyDaddy had high hopes that his son was going to be the second coming of Christ. Well, that's not happening despite feeding him organic bananas that came from a chimpanzee's ass and milk that came from a gorilla's tit.
During the pregnancy, because KB was not married to BabyDaddy, cheaping out on prenatal care and delivering the baby at home in a bathtub did not help. Sure, it saved $$$$$$$ for BabyDady.
There are now developmental issues with the kid. I think the kid is autistic. On a deep level, BabyDaddy knows this as well and is planning his ditch.
Here is how it's going to go down.
BabyDaddy is going to drag KB and the baby to Texas. BabyDaddy is all wrapped up in his work and KB will be home alone with the kid day in and day out. KB does not have any family nor friends within 5 states and two time zones. KB will get lonely and resentful.
Perfect.
KB leaves Texas and comes back to California with the baby. KB will look like the "bad guy" for leaving, sparing BabyDaddy the blame of the break up he really wanted. BabyDaddy will look like the victim as his babymomma and child abandoned HIM!
BabyDaddy is now rid of his responsibilities and is free to f&*^ around like he has been doing all along.
Don't believe me? BabyDaddy hit on a female guest at my daughter's wedding where KB was pregnant AND in the bridal party.
Last year BabyDaddy also told us all that he was at a MEETING in Santa Rosa last year on CHRISTMAS EVE, which fell on a SATuRDAY as to why he was LATE showing up to our party. Tell me. He works for the schools. No schools have meetings on a SATURDAY on CHRISTMAS EVE.
He was with his other babymomma or other romantic interest.
My niece is getting played. She's an idiot to fall for it. He's f****** around on her and is planning on ditching her and the child they produced as the kid is not the Adonis he thought he would be.
*****If I could give women one bit of advice, this is what it would be: Do NOT have a kid with any guy thinking he will take care of you and your baby. He won't. He will be gone with the whiff of fresh pussy elsewhere leaving you and the kid you created with him in the dust. *****
Are you ready to be a single parent? Are you ready to live in poverty? This is the harsh reality.
Let's stop a moment to reflect what this holiday is really about. Pilgrims from England came over and had no idea how to farm the land and how to survive the winter. The Native Americans helped them out. Unbeknownst to the Native Americans, helping the English settlers survive in the New World was their death knell.
So much for being kind.
When was the last time you saw this holiday in it's original depiction? The whole aspect of Native Americans helping out those who eventually annihilated them is completely swept over by sappy images of happy family dinners and the oh-so-annoying advertisements for Black Friday sales to follow.
I know blacks get all the sympathy and media coverage. However, the Native Americans are the ones who really deserve an apology and reparations. The problem is that Native Americans today are so inbred with European settlers we don't know where one ethnicity ends and the other begins.
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On a completely different note, I have my 22 pound turkey ready to roast. I do love Thanksgiving despite my acidic rants about the origin of the holiday. It's the only holiday where it's all about the FOOD. This year the expected crowd is in limbo as there have been some serious health issues with one of our very good friends (along with their family) who usually join us.
At a minimum there will be six of us. At a maximum there will be 16. Either way, there will be plenty of turkey and the trimmings to go around. I may be doing meal delivery Thanksgiving depending on the health status of BR and his family.
Hey, I will be Meals On Wheels for those who are housebound.
I'm waiting for the PC police to tell us that Black Friday can't be called Black Friday any more because it's offensive and racist.
Perhaps Smash and Grab Friday would be more realistic. Still, I see outrage for that as well albeit the elimination of a color reference.
My son-in-law found out a couple of days ago that he got laid off. He works in the tech industry in San Jose. Another friend found out that her employer laid off 2,100. There are lots of lay-offs happening and it's all right at the holidays. The people laid off have put in several years with the company.
Capitalism at its finest.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Your job is GONE.
It's so Beanie to have a pet dog, pig, and duck. Beanie always marched to the beat of his own drum.
I've blogged about Beanie over the past 10-15 years every so often. He was a true Heights homie who hung out at Tasty Pizza. He graduated with my older brother's class of 1982. Beanie was ALWAYS at the bar having a good time with everybody. Beanie was also an avid bike rider. I remember as a teen he would think nothing of riding 65 miles to Looper's cabin just to hang out with us.
I got word yesterday that Beanie died in a house fire.
It will never be the same going to Tasty Pizza and not seeing Beanie there. He was kind of like Norm of Cheers. He always had his spot. Everybody knew him.
Rest in peace, Beanie. I have this sinking feeling that the photos you showed me 13 years ago on your cell phone of random items you lit on fire in your driveway had something to do with your demise by fire yesterday.
