Hondas from the 2nd Floor

Enter Casey's Weird Life

I went to Honda for an oil change this morning. Unfortunately the power had just gone out in all of Auto Center Way where all the car dealerships are clustered in Bremerton, Washington. The mechanics couldn't do a thing. Thinking this was a short time thing, I walked around the lot looking at car possibilities for my daughter - and noticed a total lack of new cars. Sitting there in the lot was just a bunch of sad behemoth Bulgemobiles by other makers that nobody wants to drive anymore. It was sad and dystopian. I felt like I had stumbled into a scene from one of my favorite bleak-topian movies Songs from the 2nd Floor. (You can watch it for free on YouTube - link below).

Jiffy Lube was more expensive, but better. I could stay safely in my car while the unmasked mechanics did their thing. Three young maleschanged the oil and topped off fluid, while the lone woman mechanic polished my headlights (not a euphamism). She warned me not to touch my headlights for 3-4 days while they "harden" (STOP IT FOLKS!).

While they were working away I was Caller #1 on the Thom Hartmann Show right after his Daily Rant and my topics were on point and perfectly delivered - a first for me. I mentioned the Covid status updates on PBS Newshour last night at minute 32, and @yourlocalepidemiologist - and how this feels like a Mix of the time before vaccines and the time before Delta.

Then I mentioned my new Theory which I want everyone to turn into Action and Fact: Republican Replacement Theory. Some are doing that today in the state Primaries. We all get to do this in November. I listened for a few minutes after and similarly coined phrases were common. I especially liked the "Putin Replacement Theory".

Thom's call screener apparently boosted me to caller #1 ahead of the usual 10-20 callers waiting forever to rant themselves - and Thom gave a big laugh. Last week someone coined another great term re the Scotus leak: "Indentured Pregnancy"

Then a stop at TJs and to an Asian Grocery for some mystery food and then home where I called up various heating contractors. Last night I mentioned to Nancy that we should decarbonize our Radiant Floor Heat this summer and converti it to something with an electric On Demand Hot Water Source to warm the radiant floor. This is something that will easily retrofit to Solar, using the grid as our battery. We only need about 50,000 BTUs per hour which is something a smaller hot water heater can produce. We'll save a bunch of money as heating oil is currently at $5.15. Last year we spent $1200 on electricity for everything. We spent $1600 for heating oil alone. Currently we have an oil fired Buderus Burner that is about twice the capacity we need.

Then a long conversation with Rocket Mortgage, explaining to them why we don't want to change anything with our current financial situation mortgage and debt-wise. They are trying to get us to abandon a 3.99% interest rate and a loan with just 17 years remaining (and paying off about $500 worth of principal per month) with a 30 year at 5.15% starting at the flat part of the curve, in order to incorporate some additional $27K in miscellaneous debt. Our monthly payment would go up some $300. Great for them. Not for us. I kept asking why we were discussing this and for some reason I was too tired to hang up. Again, it felt like another scene in the Swedish movie.

One of the best scenes starts at 26:20. Watch for the people in business suits out on the street in the background. This movie was the result of Sweden's bleak financial existence at the time apparently. This movie really is one of my favorites.

A long chat with a relative, and then a very short nap time - then moderating on the Aravosis News Hour on YouTube where I get to censure Russian Trolls and other miscreants for sport! Search for "Aravosis" on YouTune or @aravosis on TikTok. I did ask an important question yesterday but will have to replay the broadcast for the answer. I want to know the status of Covid among the Ukrainians.

Today’s squirrel was one of the invasives. Now exiled and I will leave it at that. The Oriole has made the porch its favorite dining spot and I also say yesterday’s Tanagers. More even. No sign of the powerful and deadly Douglas Squirrel I call “Jaws”. 7000 psi.

More calls to make as my head gets fuzzy. I may head out to do some paleo tomorrow or Thursday.

On another note, a friend who is a brilliant economist writes to me about the economy:

”I'm perfectly alright with my stance on ost digital currencies. These are worthless; and if not, then the times have passed me by. Now I'm taking account of what I know that just ain't so. This means that it will be time to deploy serious capital when several of the following occur.

Bitcoin drops to a 4-digit handle.

Tens to hundreds of shit coins become worthless.

People consider Elon Musk in the way they considered Angelo Mozilo after the GFC.

Numerous (10-20) Kathy Wood stocks will go bust. (i.e., delisted)

Cramer will publicly defend his actions during th(is) bubble.

Barron's will do a piece on John Hussman.

Jeremy Grantham will do a victory tour.

The Fed will lose credibility.

The Dow will pay a positive real dividend rate.

Buybacks will be frowned upon by the media.

Until then, the casino is still open. Let's see how this counter trend rally performs with the passage of time. “

I am hoping my evening is less of a Bizarroland. Today’s accomplishments:
Getting the Car’s Oil Changed
Filling the Larders
Arranging Contractor Visits for the Radiant Floor
Ordering Montse’s new book on the Glass Flutes (see below)
Exiling a Squirrel
Gathering Data
Moderating
Today’s post
Walking about 4500 steps - am trying to do a minimum 7000 per day. Its time for some lapping around the digs.
Tonight: prep for time travel tomorrow. I am heading back to the Eocene/Oligocene.

My friend Montserrat Gascon finished her important book on the Claude Laurent Glass Flutes. My strive towards reproducing these instruments for the first time since they were made is mentioned in the book. It is available here:
https://www.montserratgascon.com/online-store/LAS-FLAUTAS-DE-CRISTAL-DE-CLAUDE-LAURENT-Montserrat-Gascon-p465346652

The car image above comes from the book Zany Holidays by Bruce McCall. He was a frequent contributor to The New Yorker.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McCall

I might add more later. This is always a rough draft that gets sent out first because I can and I no know limits.

C