Un-freaking-believable! It is 75 degrees out on the back porch! That is unheard-of in August in the Valley-of-the-We-Do-Mean-Sun. Night before last we had a fair amount of rain, and then a sharp storm last night—between the two, they walloped the heat down. Wish I didn’t have to be in Scottsdale at 7:30 this morning. It’s such a gorgeous morning, I ‘d sure like to be able to enjoy it over my nonbreakfast.
Beginning to feel a little better. Still far from normal, but nothing like as sick as I was. Over the past 10 days, I’ve lost seven pounds, most of them at the alarming rate of a pound a day. However, the weight seems to have stabilized at what was “normal” six months or a year ago: just overweight instead of downright fat. I’ve learned how to keep the double dose of omeprazole from upsetting the gut—it’s amazingly easy: guzzle a large mug of hot water flavored with honey & ginger before gulping down the disgusting pills; then guzzle another one immediately thereafter. Voila! No ill effect from the annoying drug. Yesterday I was actually able to eat some real food, as opposed to a tablespoon or so of yogurt at a time: a chicken thigh and a baked potato. So, maybe this thing is settling down. Either that, or I’ve already croaked over and am writing this to you from the other world.
Class started on Monday. Depressing. One poor kid in those sections is on the sixth try to get through a semester of freshman comp. How these children are gonna get by, I just don’t know. Our country needs decently paying blue-collar jobs so that people who are not cut out to sit in a classroom until their eyes glaze over can get on with their lives fresh out of high school. Offshoring those jobs or pushing down wages for the few that remain guarantees that a particular set of hard-working, honest Americans who deserve to be in the middle class will instead spend their lives in the underclass. And an underclass is not something America needs, whether you’re in it or not. A large number of citizens who are permanently under- or unemployed is, in a word, a drag on the economy.
I have nothing much else to say about money today, other than that I wish I had enough of it.
Others, however, have had plenty to say this week.
Most notably, TB at The Blue Collar Worker has had so many hair-raising life experiences crammed into this week, he must wonder if he’s living in a soap opera. It was not enough that he had to go to court (again) to testify against the nut case who pursued him into a parking lot and drew a pistol on him. A few days ago he’s driving down the road minding his own business when he witnesses a horrific crash between a motorcyclist and a semi. As you might imagine, the biker lost. Big time. TB was the first to determine that the guy was gone, a pretty disturbing moment.
Folks. You need as many tons of metal as you can get between you and the next guy on the road. Stay off the motorcycles!
Mrs. Accountability may at last have come across a way to help her DH get the accidental overspending under control. He loves his debit card, but he never has a very clear idea of how much cash is in the communal checking account. The result, of course, is an unending string of overdrafts. First, she set up a secondary checking account to protect the main, working account. And then she and Mr. A discovered that if you enter your PIN when you use the debit card, the swiper machine will tell you how much money is available in your account!
Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff asks the hive mind to opine about whether the builder is responsible for the cost of locking in the interest rate if the house isn’t finished by the time the lock ends. Interesting question.
A cadre of bloggers is writing about the current life insurance meme. IMHO, Evan’s post, at My Journey to Millions, about buying whole life for his infant son is the most interesting of the lot.
Money Beagle shares tips on how to keep the kitchen looking good.
Welp, gotta go. Twenty minutes before I have to fly to Scottsdale, and I haven’t even bathed, to say nothing of feeding the dog and dosing myself with disgusting pills. And so, it’s off and running.
“Our country needs decently paying blue-collar jobs so that people who are not cut out to sit in a classroom until their eyes glaze over can get on with their lives fresh out of high school.”
Do you think it is a lack of blue collar jobs or the fact that parents/schools push kids to enter post high school education b/c that is what you are “supposed” to do?
@ Evan: No. I think it’s the perception — largely correct — that you can’t get a decently paying salaried position without at the very least an AA and preferably a BA. Statistics bear this out. People with an AA earn better than those with a high-school diploma or GED; people with a BA earn better than those with an AA.
Most people are not ambitious enough to start their own businesses. That’s not what they want to do. They just want to get a plod-to-work job where somebody pays them a salary to show up and do the work. Most of those somebodies want someone with at least some post-high school training.
I run into ex–very-poor students all the time in the “real world.” Generally, they are doing just fine–selling insurance, working in management at Walgreens, or whatever. Not blue collar!
@ frugalscholar: Hope you’re right. My son is underemployed at an insurance company right now, and he works side by side with people who have no more than high school diplomas. It is, however, a hateful job.
One of his coworkers showed up in my summer course and confirmed his reports. She is one of the high-school grads there and is taking courses in hopes of getting herself into a less miserable job. Just because you’re not digging ditches doesn’t mean you’re in a desirable or a decently paying job.
Thanks for the mention. Glad to hear that you’re turning the corner on feeling better.
Good to hear you are feeling better.
1. What have you been sick with? I’m glad you’re on the mend!
2. THanks for the mention — yeah, there has been a lot going on right now that’s been traumatic… I’m hoping things will calm down soon.
3. More blue collar jobs, yes please! It is a shame that if you want to work with your hands or you’re good at blue collar stuff that the number of blue collar jobs are dropping. It’s a terrible thing. Not everyone is meant to crunch numbers or shuffle paper or write theories…some of us are better at fixing your car or building a radio, etc. It does a great disservice to a lot of people in our country to be giving blue collar jobs to offshore people! Right on!
Thank you for the mention! The hive’s conclusion is that I should look into getting a better interest rate, so I am trying to get two other quotes now. I don’t have high hopes since I have been self employed for less than 2 years…