Carry Trade Dynamics, Farm School (2)

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Japan’s Central Bank has decided to raise rates – which is almost certain to press on U.S. markets – higher.  Along with this we offer another chapter in “Farm School” which we hope you will find both entertaining and educational.

Next, toss in the usual 18 charts on markets from the perspective of our proprietary Aggregate Index and a sampler plate of the news du jour and its hardly the Dog Days of Summer.

To work, then? Happy Fed day…

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37 thoughts on “Carry Trade Dynamics, Farm School (2)”

  1. I lived in a monastery for 4 years. The original owner of the building had turned it into a passive solar cooling and heating system. The Abbott who bought the place never really understood how the system worked. A monk who joined the Abbott cut a funny looking rope off because he found it odd. It was a crucial component of the system. Then the monk installed a coal burning stove in the basement and cut holes in the basement ceiling to heat upstairs bedrooms. The heating/cooling system never worked and electric heaters were eventually installed.

    Your solar system is wonderful but highly complicated. I wonder if Elaine or her helpers would understand it well enough to maintain it if you were no longer there. The Abbott really thought he understood the building’s system but clearly didn’t and was unable to explain it to the handy monk who ended up destroying it.

  2. (“In 1965 the federal minimum wage was $1.25 and you could get a good hamburger for 19-cents and a cheeseburger with extra pickle for 23 to 25-cents”)

    at white castle you could get ten cheese burgers and fries and a shake for under two dollars in 68..

    in 2020 you could get a two cheese burger fries and drink at Mickey D’s for 3.99 free ketchup today its fifty cents for the sauce and if you get the special over twelve..I paid seventeen..
    my first house payment was 40 dollars a month and electricity was 5 average water bill in nintey seven was fifteen and sewer ten now without using a drop its 126 per month.. average around 200 a month.. they are asking to raise it again .. seems they have a sidewalk to repair..
    the materials to build my house..in 94 just the materials.. not the flu nation or water works.. was 7 thousand the same materials today is 137 thousand.. the house I put a ten thousand dollar bid on sold for fifteen they just sold it for a hundred and it needs at least two hundred in repairs..material ..
    groceries alone was75 for a family of 4 in seventy five now a guy got just the cheapest for his family at traders for about five hundre..my guess is that was a weeks worth..but then man doesn’t live by ramin noodles alone..

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/trader-joe-s-receipt-goes-viral-after-parents-show-the-cost-to-feed-six-kids/ar-BB1ptSUa

    • My grandfather — a builder by trade, with his own crew — built the house my parents bought from him for $5000, in 1946. It was (is) on a 50 x 100 small suburban town development lot. It was a three-bedroom Cape Cod style — one master bedroom with bath on the first floor; two bedrooms, with dormers, and a shared bath upstairs. Living room, dining room, and kitchen on first floor. Screen porch to the small backyard. Attached small single car garage, but had no interior door to the first floor. The garage was on the steam heat radiator system, however. Half basement, with coal furnace, later converted to oil heat. One fireplace in living room. Coal shute later converted to a Bilko style door.

      My parents had the master B.R., down, and my grandmother had one bedroom up, and I had the other.

      It was easily the smallest house in the neighborhood by far.

      Sometime in the 1970s, three window air conditioners were installed. (Each a bit under 5,000 BTU. Two up, and one in the living room down. It was barely enough, but it was just enough: with a couple of small air-circulating fans, strategically placed and aimed.)

      They had a $50 a month mortgage — and occasionaly had a hard time making it.

      Two yeara ago, it sold for a bit under four million dollars. (We were long, long out of it, and I thought we scored a Very Hot Deal for $450,000 five years earlier, after mom passed away, and we had “tidied it up” a bit for sale..

      High Three — almost four — million dollars.

      • When I built this house.. I was first given a thirty by thirty one room school house.. 18 foot ceilings.. my thought was live in the tiny place we had.. and put that in a basement. make a nice one bedroom below open concept .. then a upstairs with a garage coming off of the front.. a man cave workshop above the garage and two bedrooms on the upper floor the Plan was two bath .. the town said no.. if I wanted to add on I had to add onto that little place we had..
        where the real problem happened was I trusted a big company to be honorable and gave a one third down deposit on the foundation work.. he of course took it and ran..so..I came up short by ten grand..its also where I got my ten thousand dollar hammer lol.. he left his..I had thought about getting it gold plated..
        working two full time jobs and a part time job..I built it in three months.. what I learned..is make an account in a contractors name that takes both parties to sign off on..the other thing..is I was working like he’ll and I overheard my sister in law tell my wife..you know its going to take him ten years to finish this..it irritated me and I was thinking to myself..dam it..pick up a hammer and help..I was putting up a small two foot stub wall and in a hurry I had to get to my part time job.. I nailed that wall dam I nailed it good.. didn’t put a level on it.. later as sheet rock went up.. it dawned on me..dam it there’s a half inch out of level at the top..
        there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see that and think..never let someone else’s opinion irritate me like that again..
        but its home.. built it myself.. sweat equity..

    • Parents house purchased in L.A. in 63′ for $30K FRN’s…
      Zwillow shows it sold recently for $1.2M FRN’s….. The West Coast Hyper Regulated Inflation Factor seems about right for the Ureban and SubUreban environs there, and is a harbinger for rest of US..

      Got blockchain? If you drive a car in L.A. youll need it now, because only a nobody walks in L.A.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80WyBxo0Hto

      I should have stayed out of Club Med in the 80’s. However the benefits for having done so are great [as long as the US remains “solvent”] lol.

  3. The best i ever did was at 4 dollars an hour.. at 2 dollars an hour I only had to work one job.. after deregulation.. I had to work 2 full time jobs and a part time job..my average work week was a hundred plus hours a week hell year was when I worked of my ex wife’s gallbladder surgery same day.. at well over ten times the cost of another I knew that had the same survey same surgeon same day..his total bill was less than what the surgeons was alone.and we went through the free clinic..
    hell year was 140 plus hours a week.. my wife had had a stroke in her twenties then. she was my charge nurse was worried because I traded resurfacing the surgeons parking lot by hand in trade..came to help.. we became friends then..the hospital left her with five bucks to live on.. she knew what they were willing to do to you..
    I had a boss that played the stock market..he thought if he took the funds the employees were paying for insurance he could make money …so he used that money then the Reagan recession.. a child fell out of a tree imposing himself on a tree branch through the lung and heart.. they had to fly a surgical team in..two months in critical care a half million ..only to discover we didn’t have insurance.. my life turned to shit overnight.. it still follows me today..they own you.. where I lucked out is my wife …couldn’t be happier..

  4. I forgot when the hospital sent their collection agent back then to collect for the half million. the collection agent came in.. I got us coffee sat down at the table..he calmly pulled out a pistol laid it in the table and said how do you plan to repay this expense.. we visited I explained what happened.. he left told them he didn’t care how much I owed them he wasn’t ever going to bring out any more paperwork to me again..years later while working the halls he was a stroke patient. ( really a decent guy). that I took care of for ten years until his passing his wife..lost everything to the hospitals.. she in turn died penniless.. a few times she would start crying as she vented to me..

    • Yeah I know.. the hospital charges two percent a month.. I didn’t even make 3 an hour.. what happened even gets better..
      my niece that is presently working on her third or fourth PhD was just starting college then..
      I was working at the cabinet shop.. got my paycheck and it was two dollars.. I go in to see the hospital took the whole paycheck.. they got a law passed that basically says they can have everything .. anyway I went to see a lawyer.. the line was about three quarters of a mile long.. I get in there asking for help..they said sorry your Caucasian male if I had been an abused female or African American or a foreign citizen then they could help..the lady said you are pretty bright you can do this.. and handed me a piece of paper for the forms and an instruction sheet.. I had to type with a typewriter for three days and nights over a thousand hand typed sheets using my nieces typwriter..then hand sign each sheet.. to get it done by Monday morning..
      on the very last day the very last thing..I had to name the law code etc. that allowed me to do this.. I left it blank all the law libraries were closed and the lady was gone..the I went and hired a lawyer to amend it..
      lol lol that was hell.. with a capital H…
      people sometimes wonder why I harp about the failed medical system when I worked in medical facilities for so many years..
      as far as resurfacing a parking lot by hand my god in hundred degree heat..high humidity that is hell..luckily my son inlaw now has a construction company now.. and a grandson that is also a construction engineer.. with the equipment and manpower to do it..
      I felt bad for my last guy that they asked him for a fifty grand deposit on his cancer testing and treatments.. even though the VA was going to pay for it..he lived in our spare room .. then when he was almost in tears when they told him to leave their clinic.. it took a while for the social worker to fix it..
      I have known so many turned away from medical treatments.. just because of the business model..
      my niece actually gave a lecture to students and stopped by on her way home and was visiting about the year I borrower her typewriter lol.. my wife never had me talk about it..for a long time I had one of the statements that had a hand written note on it..if your check in full has already been sent please disregard this notice lol..
      the system is totally broken. no one leaves with anything..
      now a govt employee and the golden goose insurance..if you have govt insurance and die..you cease to exist.. your no longer insured your final charges are not covered because your no longer insured.. seen that one so many times its always amazed me..I still get bills in the mail for TBE homeless that had federal insurance.. tri-care great until your dead..then they go for the gusto..Its the business model..

      • LOOB; each time you share something, we get more of “the rest of the story,” of your life.

        A most amazing courageous loving kind hard-working fraught with challenges but enduring surviving LIFE.

        I wish you could write a book about it. It is one that a lot of people would not only love to read, but you could educate them along the way, about the laws in this country and how they affect the average person, behind the scenes. The story that never makes it on the news/papers/movies, anywhere (here, yes, thankfully).

        • I had thought about that.. but C is right.. I am not a ten words or less person and I do ramble on and on.. its been an interesting but good life.. I wouldn’t change anything about it at all.. I have seen the good side the funny the sad and the parts that make you struggle.. love life.. what I did do though.. is I see people that experience these things and see them having doubts about themselves and feeling sorry for themselves.. when I worked garbage scowl driver.. and the ex had her gallbladder removed.. I was starting to feel sorry for myself.. they called and called every hour on the hour.. my boss was getting upset the collection agent called his mother inlaw LOL.. they would say things that would hurt your feelings.. like why in the Hell did you seek out medical services if you didn’t have the funds in your account to write a check for it..
          then I went in to a truck stop to get some snacks for the boss and myself.. there at one of the tables was a wheelchair.. a quadropolegic sitting there.. she was crying..I being the nosey sort of guy I am went over and said hun why so sad.. then she told me her story.. she was a housekeeper at the local hospital..worked on new years eve.. had insurance.. got off work on her way home and a drunk hit her.. the drunk died in the crash she was flight for lifed to the local hospital she worked for..was in a coma and a long recovery.. will forever be steering her ride with her mouth.. the insurance company refused to pay the bill and the hospital took everything she had she only had seventy five cents..the insurance company refused because it was an accident she had HEALTH insurance..
          which that message came when I was beginning to feel sorry for myself.. there are others way worse off than myself.. or the young woman she is in her mid thirties now..
          I just sent her the second book of dune.. she was child trafficked as a young girl.. they would line forty or fifty guys up..for her to perform oral sex on.. met her she vented to me.. I talked her into escaping.. I should have given her our spare bedroom.. they found her and beat her so bad.. I get a call she had my number as her emergency contact.. to get permission from a hospital in the SW to treat her.. she was a cash cow to them.. anyway they got caught in a big city and she refused to give testimony on them.. ( they gave the threat of death to her family members and her she was scared to death ) anyway I send her a few bucks so she can get shampoo and a book or two every month.. been doing that for what over a decade now.. she is now old enough that guys that take advantage of women won’t be interested.. she is looking forward to getting out and getting a job..once in her life be a normal human being.. to live a normal life.. My fear is if she can get a regular job.. because of being in prison system for as long as she was and being human trafficked for such a long time and from such a young age.. what can she expect when she gets out..
          there is always someone worse off.. the guy that was hurting so bad.. his cat would bring mice home from the field and that is what kept him and his family fed.. they kept the skins to remind them where they have been.. people dehumanize those below them.. what came of that.. is the guy became a constructive businessman really tallented.. his daughter is a social worker one of his boys is a mechanic.. his wife worked until she retired at a restaurant as a greeter where the wife and I would go.. I had to hold his hand and actually help him get the assistance he needed by doing ninety percent of the work.. He thought they would ridicule him.. or the family whose daughter had incurable brain cancer fifty years ago now.. the mom and dad were fired and lost their insurance.. because she had to go into the doctors so much..
          there is always someone that has it worse.. I could tell you stories all day long about people that have crossed my path..
          A funny one was at church.. a young woman single mom the dad abandoned her.. I had talked her into going back to church.. ( she is still going seen her last week) the father was an asshole and abandoned them.. anyway because of my work schedule I wasn’t able to go.. ( we just had our two homeless guys move so I could get surgery so I can go again) anyway.. she walked into sunday school several years ago and she was afraid I had told them what she had to do to feed her children and survive..
          I did tell her never fear.. her story stays with me..
          so if your experiencing the down side of life.. look up to heavenly father.. I swear he listens to your prayers.. he has been there.. what he gives you is lessons to learn from.. I would have taken so much so much for granted if I hadn’t of been down this road I have traveled.. this way I have learned how to do so many things.. I have really been blessed by these experiences.. money.. phuph..not much in the account but I have plenty of food.. they just deducted the huge insurance payments for the home and cars.. and I still have enough to buy gas so we are good.. I am not going anywhere… don’t need anything the wife has been baking bread and buns… I am happy got the perfect wife for me.. she puts up with my crazy experiments and hobbies.. whenever I think dam I need to do this or that .. she sends me out to build something for her.. speaking of which I am going to mount the motor on the corn extruder today.. got it wired up finally.. and teach the grand kids how to make DAT’s.. solar cooker..
          see there I went rambling on again..

      • I knew a senior lady once who was a neighbor. She was very direct and you always knew where you stood with her. She would say to me on several occasions ”lose some weight chubby…because the ‘Golden Years’ are called that because all your Gold goes to the doctors”
        Yes, have since taken her advice!

        • She’s right to..
          whe n my father and mother passed every physician in the hospital system sent a bill for consultation fifty bucks.. now why did a gynecologist and a Proctologist need to be called for consultation for someone dead..
          medications many thousand times more than what they can be purchased for in other countries..one of my doctors goes home to India and will pick up items for her patients..here they cost well over a hundred dollars a month..there they are less than a dime.. if you happen to live long enough to require full time skilled nursing.. the cost per person is shy a quarter million a person a year plus transportation and all your medical expenses.. I got a call.. one of the guys that lived in our spare bedroom realative..he doesn’t have any money.. but his fish oil tab.. over the counter.. they won’t allow over the counter bottles.. it has to come from their pharmacy.
          https://www.amazon.com/NOW-1650-Foods-Omega-3-100-Softgels/dp/B000J18RSW/ref=sr_1_27?

          the cost twelve dollars a tab..
          but on the same token.. to meet the expense for one minimum wage earner to meet the expense for one eight hour minimum waged employee per month they have to clear more than six grand to meet the wage and expenses of that one shift .. that doesn’t even consider all the other expenses or federal mandated crap..many of which is not required by federal facilities.
          now factor in the guy making the big money..

    • I know life on the bottom rungs of the ladder..I have definitely been there done that.. what’s hilarious is as a young man.. I thought I had the bull by the tail..dreamed of being the next ansel adams.. i am not the brightest bulb in the socket but i am not the dimmest either..when life went to hell it was one what the hell is this right after another..
      then I think.. maybe heavenly fathers plan was to get me to learn.. it sure helped me to see what others are experiencing.. and I decided long ago since someone gave me the hand up..I will be there for someone else needing a hand up..I learned how to do things that most people take for granted.. speaking of which .. I made yeast balls the ancient Chinese and Babylonian way.. the boss has been baking bread..dam now that’s heaven home baked bread..

  6. “White Dudes for Kamala”
    “White Women for Kamala”
    “Black Men for Trump”
    “Black Women for Trump”

    Do I sense a touch of racism entering this campaign.

    • You are sensing the MSM divide and conquer megaphone. I tuned out a long time ago. Youll sleep better for it lol.

    • It has been racist from the start. The Dems can not possibly, honestly run on the Biden/Harris record so ad-homs and strawmen will abound. The Dems, the media, and the entire entertainment industry will slander Trump as racist, sexist, misogynistic, antisemitic, crooked, stupid, and just plain mean. All of these are demonstrably false, but the people who’re not going to vote for Trump are also not going to listen to any of the demonstrations…

      You will notice it is the Harris for Prez people and the media who sponsored (touted, exploited) the first two. (“White Dudes for Kamala” has gotten considerable air over the past couple days. Most of ’em are pols and disfavored entertainers, and the “coverage” has provided them the most screen time they’ve seen in years.) The second two are statements by individuals within those respective demographics, and Trump, Inc. is neither condoning nor exploiting these groups. I hope his organization can stay on the high road, but it is often the media who dictates this, not the campaign.

      I was a captive audience for the Olympics coverage for an hour or so, this afternoon. There was a Harris political ad during every single commercial break. She informed me that Donald Trump caused the border crisis and was responsible for it not having been fixed, and that she would work to save “democracy” and continue the policies of Joe Biden because they were working to make a better America.

      If you haven’t closely-watched an American election before, I suggest many pounds of popcorn and a stockpile of preferred beverages. It WILL get ugly and nasty. It is entirely-likely they will lock Trump up, even if its only for a couple hours, because Cammy* will need the photo-op, and it will get so dirty that, if the U.S. still had a policing agency remaining which had a modicum of integrity, there’d be governors, AGs, and members of Congress going to the hoosegow, before the final vote tally from the Electoral College.

      * I shan’t refer to the current Vice President as “Kammy” again until after the election.

      She is now “Cammy” [which is] short for “Cameltoe.”

      I will refer to her thus, lest anyone forget how she got every accolade and advancement she’s ever received as an (alleged) adult.

      • I don’t above of her political stance or what she has done going down the rabbit hole of politics. But I do admire that she was able to escape being referred to as a THOT in the hood..

        • That’s because she was never “in the ‘hood…”

          Cammy was born in Oakland and moved to Urbana, Illinois when she was two. Cammy attended kindergarten and 1st grade in Illinois. After 4+ years there, the fam (minus her father) moved back to Cali, where she went to school through part of the 6th grade. The fam then moved to Montreal, where she finished secondary school and started college.

          Cammy’s family is “upper middle-class.” Her parents are both full professors, and her mother is a biomedical research scientist, on top of her teaching career. The closest Cammy ever got to any ‘hood was when she’d spend time on the plantation with her paternal grandfather’s slaves. The second-closest was when her mother moved back to Cali and they lived for a time in a middle-class, mostly Black neighborhood, a couple miles off the Berkeley campus.

          Cammy is most-certainly thought of in the Bay Area as a THOT. She was a very busy young girl, best-known on the street for being able to suck a camel through the eye of a needle. And then, she met Willy’s willie, and the rest is, uh, [well, actually it’s not, because Soros’ scribes are rewriting her “history” as fast as they can scrub it off the Web.]

          I assume you get the picture…?

  7. re: “The medium is the message.” M. McLuhan
    feat: Weaving Tales

    Folks,

    Apparently yesterday’s foray into Volyn Oblast by President Zelinskyy included more than a photo op of a weaver at a textile factory along with business leaders. The day trip also featured a whistlestop at a Rivne high school with public and private French media entities. Rivne was the nazi administrative capital of Ukraine during WW2 between 1941 and 1944. The senior Ukrainian collaborator and ethnic cleansing advocate of the period in Rivne with the nazis and founder of the Galicia Division of the SS apparently escaped into the American Zone in Germany as the war wound down. From there he emigrated to Paris writing prolifically on nationalist Ukrainian history before passing from natural causes in the 1980’s.

    Today’s media publishings of yesterday’s interview with President Zelenskyy vary considerably in messaging between the English and the French editions when looking at the state-owned “France24” website for example. The French version quotes President Zelensky’s displeasure that Ukraine is not being allowed by the West to strike deeper into Russian territory with Western weapons. He also expressed frustration that only 3 of 14 brigades have been properly supplied because of Western footdragging.

    Rhetorical question-
    America and the West: you can do better!?

    https://www.france24.com/fr/europe/20240731-zelensky-affirme-qu-un-soutien-occidental-insuffisant-permet-les-gains-territoriaux-russes

    https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240731-ukraine-s-zelensky-says-he-wants-russia-at-the-table-for-next-peace-summit

    • re: Spoiler Alert
      feat: A “Xi Moment”

      Folks,

      Chinese media is offering an early teaser of an imminent “Xi Moment” set to drop this Thursday. The President is anticipated to be decked out in the latest in Chairman Mao attire while the Communist Party magazine “Qiushi” (Seeking Truth) publishes the Leader’s words. Apparently the PLA should be preparing to win wars.

      http://en.qstheory.cn/2024-07/31/c_1009428.htm

      Meanwhile the official White House schedule noted two afternoon meetings today for President Biden. One was concerning fentanyl (from China?) in the drug war, and another regarding economic recovery in the Ukraine.

      Let’s track down DJ George for comment. Apparently his most recent coordinates sent back to base station reflected an unnamed rural Texas drive-through. Oh excellent, sounds as if we’re connected, go-ahead DJ George-

      “…Where’s the beef ?? …”

  8. G, great bio story today, you’ve certainly ‘lived outside of the box’!

    loob, it’s stressful to read your posts, too wordy and unorganized, try paragraphs, brevity works when making a point.

    Thanks for the heads up on Heat Pump tragedies,

    https://www.facilitiesnet.com/hvac/tip/Commercial-Air-Conditioner-and-Heat-Pumps-Recalled-Due-to-Fire-Hazard–53707

    Heat Pumps are the 2nd leading cause of house fires:
    https://www.airspecialist.com/articles/common-causes-of-heating-and-cooling-system-fires/

    p.s. I had the quake ringing tones today, hope it’s just another undersea volcano causing no harm!

    • “Heat Pumps are the 2nd leading cause of house fires”
      Perhaps in the ‘heating & cooling’ category. The overall leading cause of house fires is cooking on the stove… neglected. I believe the second overall cause is faulty electrical outlets. I’ve seen too many burned and melted outlets in old homes. When I bought the Volcano Ranch here the first thing I did was replace ALL the electrical outlets. Contractor cost under $2 each and I did the work myself, and discovered a serious electrical fault in the process. Old, crusty, paint sprayed outlets are huge fire hazards.

    • c: OMG. Appliances can catch on fire unless you pay someone for biannual maintenance! Time for your leftist social justice goon squad associates to spring into action ! Disarm appliance owners ! Send the leftist child soldiers unlawfully carrying firearms into to the streets and loot and burn the appliance and repair stores ! Introduce progressive legislation to ban all appliances, not just natural gas appliances ! Round up reactionary 100 year toaster owners and send them to Ure camps ! Stalinist social justice talking point for next week … Light bulbs cause Global Warming !
      And by the way, just because LOOB’s posts can be a bit untidy, he actually has life experience to share, not just social justice talking points someone else thought of.

      • n, your reactionary post flips G’s excellent personal story on the travails of house buying (don’t neglect safety checks on electrical equipment) into a left vs right divisive mentality. How ridiculous does it get? Should we ask real estate agents if the toaster voted Republican?

        btw, i’ve known hard times, I’ve got friends who have lost/losing their homes from the CA wildfires, so cautionary fire tales are particularly noticed by me.

        Perhaps you’ll help Mr. Rittenhouse’s sister and mother, they’re facing eviction (he also had fervent zeal about protecting the world from leftist wrongdoing):
        https://www.newsweek.com/kyle-rittenhouse-family-plea-money-after-being-evicted-1915618

        Flick the lightbulb on, perhaps you’ll see the Roevember coming….

        • “Flick the lightbulb on, perhaps you’ll see the Roevember coming….”

          Clever @c but when I flick the lightbulb on, I see NoNovember.

        • “Reactionary” is the quintessential leftist cliche comeback. Reactionary satire no less. My post was no more ridiculous than your usual partisan rock-throwing posts with academic window dressing, with support from studies and institutes that always seem to mirror the brown and black shirt talking points. You still owe LOOB an apology.

  9. for the military minded here you gotta see new Nation and this video..
    https://youtu.be/MQ4vLodt4hg?si=DjHLPsuVx7VHdMX-
    then the thing I read the other day tha mentioned three offshore accounts one with a million and a half that had a deposit trail that went around the globe through shell companies..if any of that is true this is one ugly mess

  10. I still cannot believe my luck in buying the Volcano Ranch here. House was hurricane damaged. Treefall pierced the roof. A flipper bought it cheap and fixed it all up, upgraded interior, and then had trouble selling it. There was a lava flow at the outskirts of the village, threatening to cut it in half. People were leaving in droves. This is ‘Lava Zone 2’… “Subject to downflows” and insurance companies will not touch this zip code. Thus one cannot get a mortgage without insurance. I took the chance and got the 3/2 house and 1/3 acre lot for $97k cash. The lava flow stopped. Seven years later and comparable homes in the subdivision are now offered for $185k… still cash. This keeps the leveraged speculators out. Ample water & rainfall, and county amenities four miles up the road at the village. And my ‘Senior Homestead tax exemption’ is $200/year. I am so blessed!

  11. “In 1965 the federal minimum wage was $1.25 and you could get a good hamburger for 19-cents and a cheeseburger with extra pickle for 23 to 25-cents.

    Call it five good cheese burgers for an hour of work for pretty much everyone.”

    No, call it “five good cheeseburgers for an hour of work for the people who’re on the lowest rung of the financial ladder…”

    Never forget: “Minimum wage” is the minimum entry level wage for entry-level jobs. It was never intended to be a living wage, except in the wet dreams of the postwar Marxists — Marxists who fantasized about bringing all wages down to the minimum, not using it as a floor from which people could choose to rise above…

  12. George, I really enjoyed reading your report today.

    Reading the details of yours’ and Elaine’s lives and decisions over the last 25 years or so is so inspiring.

    I like how you accepted each other as you were and built your lives together all the while enhancing each others’ lives.

    This is a good website for people to get started on their dream:

    https://www.unitedcountry.com/

    Thanks again.

  13. Nowadays, it also pays to study the local laws and political inclination of the community. Are you going to be forced to install grid electricity, or local water & sewage? Paved driveway? (in many places, concrete is permanent, asphalt isn’t, and “permanent” fixtures raise one’s tax rate considerably.) Can you cut your own trees? Does the rainwater that falls on your property belong to you, or to the County? Do you need an environmental impact statement before you put in a wall to keep your neighbor’s yard inside your neighbor’s property line?

    There’s thousands of others. I sometimes think the local rubes sit around and try to come up with clever ways to sock it to homeowners, especially newcomers.

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