Not sure where to begin – since this is the last column on UrbanSurvival for this year. Given nothing extremely out of the ordinary goes down in the next couple of days, that is. Come Sunday, our ShopTalk Sunday column will appear on one of those “side project sites” that I tinker with now and … Read More
Hype about the stock market is at an almost overwhelming level today. Which, while appealing to those few last people to “jump in at the top” we don’t think will pay off very well. While it’s nominally true stocks are at new highs, a closer look ignores a few simple facts. First is that the old … Read More
We hold the major Purpose of Life is the successive achievement of “perfect days.” With 2023 wrapping up, we depart from the usual economic fare to contemplate what makes for a “Perfect Day” and engage in the task of stringing a lot of them together in 2024. It hasn’t escaped our notion that as our … Read More
More evidence the Fed was right on HFL – higher for longer: “YEAR-OVER-YEAR The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 4.8% annual change in October, up from a 4% change in the previous month. The 10-City Composite showed an increase of 5.7%, up from a … Read More
I promise, tomorrow’s Peoplenomics report will be much more positive. Because it deals with the task, we all face, of getting out of bed in the morning, trying to game out how to “Live a Perfect Day.” We hope your Christmas was close to being one of those. We worked in the yard a bit … Read More
People can almost feel it. Big changes seem to be coming. There’s a feeling, or vibe to it. Some random notes today on the nature of things and how – at some level – it all makes sense. But doesn’t. The Christmas Leak Tale Forget Shakespeare’s “There is a tide in the affairs of men…” … Read More
Although Elaine and I didn’t get each other anything for Christmas, save a set of (on sale) $7-buck stainless putty knives for sheetrock, project and artwork, it did leave something of a “hole in the soul” which was rectified this week assembling a new work surface. There’s just something about assembly that strikes the same chord … Read More
Something odd has been swirling around Ure’s environment for 21 hours now involving Poland. No idea why, but here are the three oddities that have come along. In our Friday convo, The Major (*that retired O4 chum I grew up with) spent part of the discussion describing in detail a totally fabulous meal at at rustic (but … Read More
Of course, with this being a holiday weekend, we will still have our ChartPack. Where you’ll see why I went short near the close Friday. But there are a number of other items to cover, which we’ve lumped into “Useful Senior Tips” and I hope you find the discussion points useful. Plus, it may be … Read More
OK, so the word “Giftery” doesn’t seem to be in the Oxford Engrish. Uppity damn Brits, anyway. Everyone here knows that giftery is the fine art of giving unto others, so they will give unto you” at well-managed levels both in terms of time and resources. Perplexing no end are the mysteries of giftery that will periodically … Read More
A super busy day ahead, since we are sneaking up on Christmas (Monday) and we’re half-way expecting the market to blow down a bit going into the extended weekend. Two reasons we can harbor such fears: first is tax selling and also the world situation. Now, my consigliere thinks I’m nuts. “Corporations are going to hold … Read More
In our new book, The Personal Ark, we tackle what kind of personal data resources you may need if (or when) we experience GHD (grid, hard down). There are lots of considerations. some of which are non-apparent. This assumes, of course, that you’re a second-level prepper. A first-level person focuses on basic food, water, and … Read More
America is a Great Place. (If you like lines…) Most of us don’t do “waiting” well. My career “waiting” began sometime in mid 1948. It wasn’t until 1949 that I could stop waiting and get on with life; because that’s when I was born after a 9-month wait. The main feature of growing up, after … Read More