The Distract Me From 2020s P&CE Thread

Mods, I'd appreciate it if you'd delete the last two sentences. It's inappropriate

 

I meant that the person who didn't want red meat. It's a typo.
There are pescatarians, too, tho. I don't know if there are gallatarians (?) or not.

Get over yourself. You know you aren't the target. The targets are those idiots who don't eat meat because the Bible told them not to, and want to force fast food places to make shit for them and cost me more money longterm.

 

I know you and I have differences of opinion on a variety of things and I do respect your opinion even when I disagree, but it isn't your position, or anyone else's, to say if anyone else has too much money.

How much is too much? Having a million dollar car? A hundred thousand dollar car? A fifty thousand dollar car? Who am I to say my friend really shouldn't buy his seventh house? His fifth Ferrari? Should he just give it all away?

 

That is a great question and one for which I have no specific answer.

As for a seventh house or fifth Ferrari, they may be investments and a way to park some of the excess money the person has.

I watch some of the auto auctions with friends (a few of whom are really into older cars) and I am often surprised by what people will pay.

Regardless, no car should ever cost $143,000,000 and nobody should ever pay that much for something "just because" they have too much money.

As for "give it all away," no. Not all of it, but I will respond with your question "When is enough wealth too much?"

Again, I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, but when someone has enough "excess wealth" for a $134,000,000 car they will likely never use, it is an indicator that the tax and wealth systems are terribly out of whack.

There are about 2,700 billionaires in the world.

Some 300 new billionaires were created during the Pandemic, according to a news report last week.

That is horrifying to me.

 

My wife works with a woman who runs marathons and half marathons. As she got farther into her 40s her times were droppng off faster than they should have been and she was always tired. Went to the doctor: anemia and several other deficiencies linked to her vegan diet. Her times have actually improved a lot the past couple of years. She's still vegan about 16-18 meals each week. But she has liver from a free range, grass fed cow once a week, and will eat salmon or shell fish two or three times. That pretty much did the trick.

The first time she had liver, she cooked up a very little bit, but it tasted so good to her that she quickly whomped up over a pound of. When she told us that story, I pictured her approach to that first salmon meal as looking like that of a bear swatting the fish out of the water as it swam upstream to spawn, then tearing into it. Though I suspect it was probably a salmon filet on a salad at the local seafood place.

 

That's exactly what it is, a place to park cash.

Without getting too specific, about 20 years ago, mi friend had started a successful business and was diligently putting money away. then, out of the blue, he got an infection that nearly took his life and decided that there was no reason for him to just be sitting on his money, he wanted to have fun with it and wanted me and a few others to enjoy his excess with him. I happily obliged and have been doing so ever since.

It is eye-opening when someone offers you things that are mostly unreachable, like a $3000 bottle of wine, the chance to drive an exotic car or a tee time at an exclusive golf course, that these things are all really wonderful experiences that probably shouldn't cost what they do, but fun to experience nonetheless.

Having said all of that, he has donated a ton to the charities my children are involved in, in addition to assisting his family in running a family foundation.

So when we have discussions about having too much money, I have a different look at it than just seeing idiots like Elon Musk and others.

 

I often wondered why most fast food places served food that tasted like $hit. Praise the lord!!

 

By the way, how are your daughters doing these days?

 

Really well, thanks for asking!

My oldest just got her masters in data analytics any my younger two just graduated from their work study programs and will have jobs soon.

20 years ago their prognosis was not living beyond their teens, now they are talking about getting an apartment together with assistance.

It could not have worked out better for them, thanks in large part to our phenomenal school district and our proximity to one of the top pediatric hospitals.

 

That is awesome. Be proud of them.
Be very proud!

 

Organ meat

 

I'm a vegetarian since I was a teenager and I've got a flock of chickens.

By the way, since you asked, their names are Cluck D, Notorious KFC, Li'l Peep, The Game, Chicky Minaj, and Kevin.

 

Daughter is getting her 15 min/sec of fame tonite on Nat TV. She went to LA a week ago to enter one of her Podencos at "The American Rescue Dog Show". She was close to winning for best ears [Aroa the dog, not my daughter] but no cigar.

 

I think it can be if we are talking economics.

The price of the car isn't the problem. If the super rich get super richer, they are still competing with each other in relative terms and just bid up these collectables among themselves and there isn't an issue. It doesn't affect me directly if there's asset inflation in, say, old paintings. The problem is when this increasing wealth discrepancy touches the rest of the economy. Political power goes up in absolute terms of wealth, not relative. Economic control goes up in absolute terms. The price of the car is a symptom of a not well distributed economy.

 

I saw a bit of this as I faded into unconsciousness. The hush puppy won Best Ears.

 

Eggs-cellent names there

 

There's a house we walked by that has had two chickens for the past three years. Until last week, anyway. They were pretty big, too big for any of the hawks that live in town to make a run at. Alas for one them, the bald eagle (I'm guessing) that lives along the river about 200 yards away from the house got one of them. One morning while my wife and I were walking, we came across a huge mass of white feathers scattered along the levee.

The next day, the people were hanging netting above their back yard. They don't seem to have replaced the lost hen, but have added four fully grown ducks.

 

Read this and this podcast from 2017 popped in my head, interesting listen if you have 17 minutes

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/02/03/513302816/episode-752-eagles-vs-chickens

 

Jesus Christ, You need to stop. Try some fried liver and evolve.

 

I'd bet that when asked if he prefers scrambled or fried he says..."Whatever..I'm eggnostic!"