"You gonna get another job?"...

[Volpone]

Cleaning vehicle interiors today.

My rent money hit a day before I expected it so I zapped off to the bank to move it from my business account to my personal one (don't ask why I can't just do that from my computer. It's a long and stupid story), but the full amount hadn't posted yet so it was a wasted trip. Gun shop I wanted to go to was closing in 11 minutes when I checked the hours on my computer. What with it being 20-30 minutes away I opted to skip that trip.

Did get to work on finally cleaning the van and car interiors.

At some point I retired my vacuum cleaner. It was terrible and I hated it so much. It pained my cheap ass to do it because technically it still "worked" so I relegated it to the garage for cleaning vehicle interiors. It works as well as it did the day I bought it. Which means I was very close to attempting to smash it into tiny tiny pieces. I will say that it is built solidly enough that attempts to smash it into tiny tiny pieces do not in any way make it work any worse. But it was usable.

The van is relatively easy. I'd been using it to haul a lawnmower (so there were grass stains on the carpet) and assorted junk from my last rental (so there was assorted junk residue everywhere), but it is basically a big metal box, so cleaning is fairly painless. Vacuum everything. Touch up with assorted attachments to get crevices etc. Scrub carpet stains with carpet shampoo. Wipe everything else down with paper towels of Armor All. Easy-peasy. Also, since it is driven relatively little, the accumulation of dirt and grime isn't so bad.

The Mustang is another story. That's my daily driver. And it has so many more curves and contours and nooks and crannies and surface materials. And crud accumulation that has been ground and ground into the surfaces. And it hasn't been cleaned in literally years. Attempting it was very demoralizing. But it needed to be done so I kept at it and made some progress. Only had time for the initial vacuum. But that did make it look better. Tomorrow I've got to get to work with the Armor-All and carpet shampoo--and another vacuuming. One rabbit hole I went down is the front seats. It's a 2009 model. So 15 years old or so. Years and years of getting in and out of the driver's seat have worn it--the fabric where my back and butt hit it and even the trim there. The power seat developed a short but I narrowed it down to the lumbar support control so I learned to just leave that alone and it won't blow the fuse. I addressed the worn seat--and by "worn" I mean actual rips and holes that expose foam padding and even springs--by taping the tears with Gorilla Tape and then putting after-market seat covers on the front seats.

Here's the problem with that: The fabric seats are really cool. The edges are made of a kind of carbon fabric pattern nylon while the actual seating portion fabric has this propriatary "MUSTANG" pattern fabric. The seat covers fit perfectly--but they're a very boring light grey plain nylon that looks terrible and doesn't at all match the back seat. So I took them off. I'm going down a rabbit hole I should've left alone until I have more time but I had to. Gorilla Tape really bonds nicely to nylon fabric after being in place for years, exposed to plenty of heat and pressure. I probably should've left it, but I managed to get it off with out damaging the already damaged fabric under it much worse. I may be able to stitch it up until I can try to find/afford an upholstery place that can do a better restoration.

I think that's about it. I absolutely should NOT have another cocktail. But I kind of want another cocktail. So there you are.

OH! The short! I forgot that bit. So the controls for the power seat are embedded in this plastic fantastic trim. Well one of the hooks that locks the trim to the seat busted off at some point. As I was cleaning the floorboards I noticed a discongruous drywall screw in said trim. Apparently at some point I shot a screw through the trim to fix it to the rest of the seat, replacing the broken latch. On closer examination, what to you think it looks like the screw was attached to? Yup, the wiring harness for the lumbar support switch. Pulled the screw and replaced it with repurposed Gorilla Tape. Didn't have the courage (or did I have the sense?!) to see if pulling the screw would let the lumbar support switch work without blowing the fuse. Tomorrow I need to get to the bank, the gun shop, and finish cleaning the car.

 

[Volpone]

Day 2 of cleaning the car interior. Hasn't been cleaned in literally years. I wouldn't call it "clean" now. It's clean enough that I can now clean it. Meanwhile the exterior has gotten dirty enough that it needs to be washed again. So I failed to cross that item off my "To Do" list. Lawn is growing fast enough that it needs to be mowed at least once a week. Getting fat, now that I'm not working a menial job. I should start doing calisthenics again but there are so many things on said "To Do" list that take time and burn calories that I hate the idea of wasting time on exercise that only burns fat.

 

[Volpone]

Today I woke up early enough to make it to church--after going 2 weeks in a row--and realized I had absolutely no desire to go to church. (Or time, but that's another story.) I do like having it as a kind of routine that marks the beginning of a new week, but on the other hand...

One of my Great Truths is that laws are for people who lack the morals, discipline, and common sense to do the right thing without being told to. The idea of having to go to church every Sunday is a law. Anyway, at the risk of sounding arrogant, when I hear the Gospel sermons, I find I usually get more out of them than what the priest is explaining. I don't know if they're "dumbing it down" for the people in church or if they just are missing the point themselves. At any rate, it's a frustrating waste of time--along with the announcements at the end, etc.

On a related note, I had an interesting revelation on Christ's teachings that actually came from the discussions over at The Other Place. I'm thinking of dropping that thread on them soon, but I don't feel like doing it today.

 

[Volpone]

When this forum was down earlier today I decided to go to WF and see if they had a thread about TK being down. They didn't but I did see Volpone's thread telling the truth about many poor people are poor for a reason. Namely, their own bad decisions. Predictably none of the left wing posters argued about facts and instead they all bitched about landlords who provide housing and claiming they were fascists and how capitalism needed to be overthrown.

None of them, who confessed to being poor, took accountability on how their own decisions and actions led them to 40-60 years old and not worth a nickel. I guess that question got glossed over. Anyway, it was equally clear they had no idea that the policies the left has supported for decades (NIMBYism, excessive zoning laws, hugely excessive fees and slowly approval processes, demands to only allow construction if special interests get kickbacks, massive over regulation of just about everything) all contribute to a housing shortage and thus higher prices. They will never learn so fuck 'en.

Oh, that thread is gold at this point. I mean, it's also a rollercoaster trainwreck, but very entertaining. You've got a board full of white male failures, telling me the only reason I've succeeded (to the level I have) is because I'm a white male. When I point out how a poor black girl with an unwed mother from Mississippi named Oprah Winfrey is it's like "You're a troll. Big deal, you can name one successful black woman." And now it's down some weird Jenee philosophy rabbit hole.

Which is a little too bad, because there are a couple points I'm tempted to touch on. They have absolutely no idea how to build wealth or be successful. At one point Kommander points out there are rich people who make bad decisions, which is an interesting observation worth exploring, but then further down someone points out that the only way to get rich is to make a shit-ton of money. Nope. Not really. I either know or are aware of people who make a shit-ton of money, own nothing and live paycheck to paycheck. I'm also aware of janitors who turn out to have been millionaires when they die. It's the whole premise of the title of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." Kiyosaki's biological father who was a big shot bureaucrat is the Poor Dad while his friend's dad who hustles and makes his money make money for him is the Rich Dad.

I could point them towards "The Richest Man in Babylon." It's even available online free. But you know, "...pearls before swine," and all that.

The secret is to spend less than you make and make what you don't spend make money for you (at a faster rate than inflation, which is the tricky part right now, but I digress). I quit my part time job because at this point I've got my money tied up in things that make me more money every month than I would on a full time job--and more importantly, more money than I spend. How? Let's look at what makes me happy (and how I spend a typical morning): I get up, get all the curtains open to let the sun in (if it's cold out), get coffee going, water the plants, let the dog and cat out, make sure they have food and water, and clean the litterbox. By this point The Dog is ready to come In. I pour myself a glass of OJ and a bowl of cereal and give her a treat before sitting down to catch up on news and discussions online. Once I've finished breakfast I'll play a few games of MS Solitaire. At this point I put away my dishes and check the back door because The Cat will be ready to come In. By now The Dog is snoring on the couch in the guest room. I'll sit down next to her, The Cat will little spoon up against her and purr, and I'll play a few games of solitaire with playing cards. This may sound boring and lame to some people but it is incredibly satisfying to me and the most expensive thing I've used by 11am is the dog treat.

 

[Lanzman]

Well, if you want to go down this rabbit hole . . .
As a gubbermint employee after a 40+ year career, I make a significant amount of money. I also have my wife's death benefit, and also substantial investments beyond my government thrift savings plan. BUT, I'm supporting two other people, so day-to-day money is actually kind of tight. And yet I still whack some into savings every month and of course the portfolio continues to grow. Why? Because I don't waste a lot of money on trivial amusements or nonessentials. Don't have a landline phone, got rid of cable (except for internet service), still drive an eighteen-year-old Jeep . . .
Like you, I've mostly pared down to what makes me happy. I read, I write, and I work in both my own and the girlfriend's yards.
It's amusing reading the thread you reference at Wordforge with people like Dickynoo raving about how unfair it is that someone who owns property might devise a way to profit from it - I own a house in Arizona, for example, which is rented out.
As I've long said, one of the defining traits of a "progressive" is a total lack of understanding about how economies actually work, hence the neverending desire for centrally-planned economies, which have never once worked in the history of the world.
Meh. The approaching climate doom will render this all academic, but it provides entertainment in the meantime.

 

[Volpone]

Aaand just a quick tidbit that could go in "Godforsaken Helholes" fo rmore than 1 reason: Back when the details Elwood's coup, forcing out Borgs, came to light I publicly announced the intent to start my own BBS. Bought a domain and hosting and got some software. But there was a mixup with the host and while that was getting sorted out I had to go to DC for a week or two with my boss for budget planning meetings. (I'd just moved out to Hawai'i to do some Reservist staff work for the Marines.) So by the time we were back new work had also piled up and I was never going to have the time to run a 'board (even if starting a new 'board circa 2007 would've been viable). But for well over a decade, that was a beloved retort to anything I would say at The Other Place--"HoW iS yOuR bOaRd DoInG?"

Back when I built a TARDIS, I also started posting to a Dr. Who props building board. A lot of the people running the board had to step back because of other life things and a handful of us got deputized to moderate "on a rotating basis." Then the person who deputized us popped out to get cigarettes and never came back. Flash forward to the past few months and one of the two Admins who is actually still around at all said "we can make you an Admin if you'd like. Oh, by the way, I've got life things going on and no longer have time to be an Admin." "*Sigh* fine. Then I guess you can make me an Admin." Pop in last night to see if anything needs my attention and suddenly I've got a lot more messages, controls, and buttons. So I guess I kind of have a 'board now. (I mean, I also have my real estate Website, but that's just a terrible barely modified cookie-cutter site that I never use and think I've even looked at maybe 3 times in the past 5 years.)