The Economy

At the Oktoberfest in Munich, one learns early, then often, why lederhosen are made of leather.

 

I had a friend in college who told me his grandmother would say "peanuts bind you up." Rice is another good option.

 

I have only anecdotal evidence to report on the economy, but:

I got a 7% raise this year for my summer seasonal job. Very fair. With that job, my SSI and a monthly annuity I've started taking, I'm making more money now than when I was working full-time, with a smaller tax burden.

My IRA account has done extremely well this year. So has my family trust account.

Micro Jr. just got a new public-sector job with the state of Colorado, with a 30% raise.

My younger brother is a contractor in Putnam/Westchester counties in New York. He's turning away business.

His son (my nephew) works in the submarine business in the Groton/New London area in Connecticut. He and his wife just bought land in Stonington and are building a house. His daughter (my niece) and husband just moved from Denver and bought a house in Fair Haven, N.J., an area I am not familiar with but I'm told it's not cheap.

I realize that not all stories are alike. Not everyone is as fortunate as my family seems to be, and I am thankful every single day. But the economy isn't all the "American carnage" one party is pretending it is.

I also thank my Depression-era parents for teaching all three of their children the value of money. Be frugal, not cheap. My wife (another product of Depression-era parents) and I have always been savers.

 

I tried reading that yesterday and found it to be as poorly written as a blog post. I think she must’ve been paid by the word, with a bonus every time she could use the word I.

 

Fair Haven's a shore town on the Navesink and next to Springsteen in Rumson, so yeah $$$.

Also, buildsubmarines.com. Apparently Electric Boat is short a few warm bodies.

 

My nephew has a classification clearance, not sure how high, but there are a lot of things we ask him about his job that he can't talk about. Not even to his parents or wife. So of course we try to weasel everything we can from him every time our families get together.

 

I will spare the details, but I am right there with you. I've got no complaints. I will be 53 at the end of this month, and Thursday I was told by our broker I could retire at any time, not work at all, and my wife and I could continue to live the lives we live on what we have. My plan was to wrap up my career in May; now December is looking pretty good. When I told the broker I would find something to do for the next 7-8 years, he said by all means go. None of this has anything to do with me - well, that's not right, I was smart enough to jump off the newspaper Titanic at age 40, get my masters degree and a paying job - as much as it does my wife is a super investor with our money, and live a pretty low-key life.
As long as I've got money for bait, tackle, beer, pork rinds, and maybe a couple of new shotguns here and there #crossthread, I'm good.

 

Goldman Sees US GDP Hit If Trump Wins, Boost If Democrats Sweep

 

"Cheese choke your booty."

 

And also gummy bears.

 

Cheese is a binder, and I don't mean in a Trapper Keeper 2000 sort of way.

 

I remember when there were all the stand-up shows on basic cable it seemed like every black comedian had a joke about government cheese and its effects on their bowel system.