Can’t say about right this second, because there is a gap between when I write and you read, but the market signals before the open today were very mixed.  On the one hand the S&P and the NASDAQ were up a bit, but on the other, the Dow as indicating a 150-point drop at the … Read More

Lifestyle and System Integration is our menu today. Since we have taken the time in the previous 8-chapters to learn the basics of the sub-system components, we can focus on making intelligent purchase decisions today. Which will lead into next week’s chapter on wiring it all up and how to navigate a “Co-Generation Agreement” if … Read More

I won’t spend much time of today’s column because it’s too logical and sensible:  I believe our whole, planet-wide understanding of time is screwy and uselessly complex. Tonight, at 2 AM, we will “spring ahead” to 3 AM instantly.  You and I will both get screwed our of an hour of sleep. What happens is … Read More

Good one!  (*can we deliver a punchline, or what?) While the early futures were indicating another pullback in the Dow and other major indices at the open, we keep staring at the junction ahead for markets and ask the only question that matters: What’s the reason for optimism? The negatives are pretty clear: The attacks … Read More

There’s not much in the way of “good news” for president Trump lately. For one, the North Korea summit in Hanoi didn’t work out as planned.  And the much-touted March 1 deadline for a U.S. China trade deal is quickly looking unlikely. Couple this with reports that immigration from Mexico-South America is nearing record levels … Read More

There’s more than what’s on the UrbanSurvival site going on. So we’ll launch into one of the more interesting investigations we’ve done into the long-cycle timing of how civilization-moving advances come about. Which matters, because we are right in the “peak invention” period of the 11-year (variable) solar cycle according to our research findings. First, … Read More

A while back, one of our in-laws (on Elaine’s side of the family) passed after a bout with cancer.  Her passing was a tremendous loss to all of us. Then, a few weeks back, her surviving husband dropped by for a visit and a quick round of “back country golf.”  He, and his late wife … Read More

There were a couple of factors that pushed the Dow Jones Industrials down 200-odd points Monday.  But, to our way of thinking, this is likely a pre-shock of a much-more dangerous period ahead for the market. The softness in housing numbers and a not-so-hot 0.3 percent annual growth of GDP forecast by the Atlanta Fed, … Read More

I’m big on using  templates and thinking-models in order to short-cut a lot of mental effort. Being lazy, as I am. Simply put, you can take a successful product and, by cloning the processes and using existing templates you can skip all kinds of wasted time. In my “George the Consultant” life, I’m going exactly this with … Read More

Advanced Chargers,  Inverters, and Grid-Tie In today’s chapter, we’ll turn you into a prepper who “knows their stuff” about power inverters (that make AC from DC sources) as well as be inducted into the nearly occult world of computer controlled solar chargers using something called MPPT. By the time we’re done, you’ll be ready to … Read More

It’s getting on toward that time of the year when things begin to sprout and when we face the sometimes-daunting task of keeping ahead of our 28.82 acres, more-or less. As I recently reported, I became hell-bent on fixing two Poulan PP126 Weedeaters that have failed over the years. Looking back, I think there two … Read More

A short, but useful thought-experiment after we roll through the personal income figures out today.  Let’s start with those: Real DPI increased 1.0 percent in December and real PCE decreased 0.6 percent. The PCE price index increased 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.2 percent. The increase in personal income … Read More

We will, of course, jump into this morning’s GDP report, but first, we need to have a little “come to Jesus” about nuclear war because there are relatively high odds of one this summer. Tensions between India and Pakistan (Indo-Pak) have perhaps never been higher.  Because both sides have nuclear weapons, as our military affairs … Read More