Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[Mountaineer]

Good morning ladies and gents, boys and girls, homebound and running free, coffee drinkers and tea sippers. Some humor for the day from the master:

https://www.thefarside.com

[dualstow]

Good morning ladies and gents, boys and girls, homebound and running free, coffee drinkers and tea sippers. Some humor for the day from the master:

https://www.thefarside.com

oh my gosh, he’s finally online! Thank you for posting that. He had resisted for so long, and unfortunately I got rid of my Far Side books during the great pre-renovation purge.

[dualstow]

Not sure which thread to put this in. General Corona?

Los Angeles without smog. Amazing.
https://twitter.com/Bill_Gross/status/1 ... 04/photo/1

[yankees60]

Not sure which thread to put this in. General Corona?

Los Angeles without smog. Amazing.
https://twitter.com/Bill_Gross/status/1 ... 04/photo/1

I saw earlier today the Northeast has 30% less pollution.

Vinny

[dualstow]

From another thread:

All my cash is with a single bank.

For very practical reasons my working cash is split between four different banks/brokerages. I can't tell you how often my debit card will get jammed up by some overactive "fraud avoidance algorithm" while I'm traveling. And I usually don't have time or access to a phone to get it cleared up immediately. Thus... pull out a different card, hope that one passes the sniff test and wait until I get back to my lodging to sort it out.

Another reason to have multiple cash accounts:
I never access the account with my main cash cache via debit cards, internet purchases, ATM or any other way except to electronically transfer / top off one of my other three "working" accounts. Thus if I ever do have an account that is legitimately compromised, that account never has more than a few thousand in it. That has happened a couple of times in some dodgy places, but fortunately I was able to catch it after only a few hundred dollars.

I keep meaning to ask you, Mark: has this virus put a big dent in your lifestyle? Seemed like you were something of a citizen of the world until the outbreak. I guess you're limited to the States for now. Does it feel strange?

[Mark Leavy]

I keep meaning to ask you, Mark: has this virus put a big dent in your lifestyle? Seemed like you were something of a citizen of the world until the outbreak. I guess you're limited to the States for now. Does it feel strange?

Thanks dualstow. Yes, it has definitely put a kink in my plans. When it looked like everything was about to go downhill, I rented a car out of LAX, checked in on friends and relatives and then have just been road tripping through small town USA. My gal is in Sonoma county, CA under lockdown - so we had to cancel a couple of trips together (Europe and Hawaii). I imagine I'll keep the road trip going until things loosen up a bit. I'm in Utah now, but I've got a pretty cool adobe lined up in New Mexico for tomorrow and the next couple of weeks. Fascinating to see the different perceptions and responses in different parts of the country.

On the plus side, I've been able to hole up with my spreadsheets and plan out my next greatest go broke quick scheme. And work on weird diet experiments that aren't really possible in polite company.

So there's that.

Overall, while unexpected, I think some good things may come of this time of isolation and introspection and experimentation.

Here's wishing the best to everyone, in any and all circumstances. Except Frugal. (just kidding. Sort of)
Mark

[D1984]

I keep meaning to ask you, Mark: has this virus put a big dent in your lifestyle? Seemed like you were something of a citizen of the world until the outbreak. I guess you're limited to the States for now. Does it feel strange?

Thanks dualstow. Yes, it has definitely put a kink in my plans. When it looked like everything was about to go downhill, I rented a car out of LAX, checked in on friends and relatives and then have just been road tripping through small town USA. My gal is in Sonoma county, CA under lockdown - so we had to cancel a couple of trips together (Europe and Hawaii). I imagine I'll keep the road trip going until things loosen up a bit. I'm in Utah now, but I've got a pretty cool adobe lined up in New Mexico for tomorrow and the next couple of weeks. Fascinating to see the different perceptions and responses in different parts of the country.

On the plus side, I've been able to hole up with my spreadsheets and plan out my next greatest go broke quick scheme. And work on weird diet experiments that aren't really possible in polite company.

So there's that.

Overall, while unexpected, I think some good things may come of this time of isolation and introspection and experimentation.

Here's wishing the best to everyone, in any and all circumstances. Except Frugal. (just kidding. Sort of)
Mark

Not to nitpick or be pedantic but do you mean abode? Unless of course the place you plan on staying is indeed actually built of sun-dried mud/clay bricks (which being New Mexico wouldn't be out of the question)....in which case I guess that would make it an adobe abode.

[Mark Leavy]

Not to nitpick or be pedantic but do you mean abode? Unless of course the place you plan on staying is indeed actually built of sun-dried mud/clay bricks (which being New Mexico wouldn't be out of the question)....in which case I guess that would make it an adobe abode.

This one. They are fairly liberal with the definition of "adobe" in New Mexico.

adobeabode.jpg (59.06 KiB) Viewed 6769 times

[yankees60]

Not to nitpick or be pedantic but do you mean abode? Unless of course the place you plan on staying is indeed actually built of sun-dried mud/clay bricks (which being New Mexico wouldn't be out of the question)....in which case I guess that would make it an adobe abode.

This one. They are fairly liberal with the definition of "adobe" in New Mexico.
adobeabode.jpg

$85 per night??!!!

Vinny

[Mark Leavy]

$85 per night??!!!

Vinny

With the discounts subtracted and the fees and taxes added, it came out to $75 per night.

[yankees60]

$85 per night??!!!

Vinny

With the discounts subtracted and the fees and taxes added, it came out to $75 per night.

I'm comparing that to the one room (low class place) I'd stay in Yonkers when I was going to Yankees games at Yankee Stadium. It is 10 miles north of Yankee Stadium. 15 years ago the price was already at $100 a night.

Vinny

[dualstow]

Cool, we used to have a fake-adobe fireplace just like that when I was a kid in NY. Coincidentally, my dad is from NM.
You’ve got an interesting life Mark.

[Mountaineer]

Good morning all. A joyous Resurection Sunday to you.

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Alleluia!

[dualstow]

Happy Easter, buddy.

[WiseOne]

Happy Easter everyone!!!!!!

The weather here in New York is beautiful today - again. The air so clear and clean, it is an absolute pleasure to go outside. The visibility is staggering...the Manhattan skyline is crystal clear, and I can see a landmark that per Google maps is 22 miles away. Never once have I seen it from this location.

I would love it if a 1 or 2 week shutdown could happen every year, for this one reason alone.

[dualstow]

Cool, WiseOne! I bet the birds are happy, too.
I bet they’re saying to each other, “I don’t know what the hell is up with these humans, but this air is delish.”
(That’s how NYC birds talk).

[yankees60]

I went out around 2:30 PM to work in my garden area.

First thing I noticed was the shrieks of children on the trampoline on the other side of the fence. Maybe 20-25 feet from where I was working. Again it sounded like at least four kids.

Then alongside that neighbor, I saw another neighbor working on building something. When I saw him first started building it a few days ago I could not figure out what it was. It was not any type of swimming pool because he'd already done one of those a few days ago. It had a gate and I wondered if it was for his son or two dogs. But several years ago he'd put up a fence around all his property to protect his son and the one dog then from all the rushing cars on his street going to and from the drug dealer at the end of his street. I think I finally realized that it might be some form of gazebo or some similar type sun shielding structure. So far all I've seen is a square with a gate all composed of what looked like pressure treated wood.

With his was his son, wife, two dogs, and what looked like a set of grand parents. I did not see any masks or social distancing among all of them.

Vinny

[Kriegsspiel]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

[dualstow]

That’s the best time to sneak over there and collect their wood chips.

[Kriegsspiel]

When I lived in Michigan I had no use for wood chips, as I was a tower dweller.

[WiseOne]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

[Mountaineer]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

Good morning! I too have a plot reserved that only allows one occupant at a time.

[dualstow]

[Libertarian666]

I was working on my food production capabilities yesterday as well, digging a couple more beds. I'm going to try growing potatoes this year. Today's task is to prep logistics for free wood chips.

My neighbors had a big Easter Egg hunt with a bunch of kids and a gramps. I also have several old neighbors and it looks like they host the Easter get togethers for their kids.

You must not live in Michigan, where the Governor has now banned the sale of garden supplies, including seeds and tools.

How in the heck would that help to slow the pandemic??? Gardening is a within-household activity, and for the newly unemployed it could be a food supply lifeline this summer.

NYC is allowing us to work our community garden plots, with some added rules designed to promote social distancing. Namely, only one person per plot can be in the garden at a time, and there is an even/odd system so that adjacent plots are not being worked at the same time. Seems that there is a bit more sanity here.

Apparently the governor of Michigan is going for the "most extreme and idiotic measures that have no benefit" award.

[Libertarian666]

some of these restrictions are starting to seem more like a test run for totalitarian rule than common sense health precautions, eerie similarity to the kind of economic destruction and personal freedom limitations the globalist green deal is asking for..

Great minds think alike.