Gotcha....again

I filled up my car yesterday with Super Unleaded, paying $4.349 a gallon.  What a rip off!  Shades of 2008!


Do they even teach "supply and demand" in high school economics anymore?  (Do they even teach high school economics anymore?)    What we're paying for gasoline today has little to do with supply and demand.  Talk about an antiquated concept!  Nope, today it's all about "speculation".  


It's one thing, entirely legitimate, for heavy fuel users....airlines, trucking companies, utilities, etc....to want to know what they'll be paying for fuel 6 months in the future.  How can you sell your product or service if you don't know what it's going to cost you to produce it?  Their "hedging" is understandable.  I get it.  But what I don't get is why the government that's supposed to protect us from the unscrupulous allows this virtually wide-open speculation to take place?  


The Commodities Futures Trading Commission could put strong "position limits" in place which would bring things back more closely in line with true supply and demand, but they don't.  Why?  Who's holding the regulators back?  I think it's fair to say the Republican position will always be "hands off".  So what's the Democrat's excuse?


Former Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) accurately described what's happening now as paper trading "by people....who will never buy oil and never sell oil.  They are actually buying and selling things they will never have from people who never had it."  They never take possession of the fuel they're buying and selling, unlike the airlines, truckers, etc.  It's all just a mouse click to them.  They're getting rich(er), and we're getting screwed.  A senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer says speculators are adding "at a minimum" $20 per barrel of oil.  The St. Louis Federal Reserve says that over the past five years speculation drove the price of oil up by 15 percent.  The CEO of ExxonMobil believes speculation could today be driving up oil prices by as much as 40 percent. 


I'm sure it's a very complex issue, but to simply throw up our hands and say, "We give up.  Let 'em do with us whatever they want" is just wrong.  Why even have regulators if they don't regulate?  Another example of government dysfunction.


S

And life goes on

If you stop and think about it, it's amazing how yesterday people were ducking for cover as tornados skipped all around the area, yet today the sun still rose, people dressed for work and ventured out, babies will be born, and the grass will still need mowing.  Nothing stops time.  Kinda puts in perspective how things really work.  Those who think they control their own destiny are just kidding themselves. 


Regarding those tornados....kudos to the authorities all across the area for their excellent early warning systems.  Despite the widespread damage there were no deaths and surprisingly few injuries.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Remember how last week I was berating IKEA for the problems I was having with one of their TV stands?  Here's how things finally worked out:  The parts packet was missing two vital parts, and one piece was not pre-drilled as the instructions promised it would be.  I took the defective piece back to IKEA where a customer service rep cheerfully replaced it with a new one.  She also went over to a wall of parts bins, went straight to the right one, and reached in and grabbed my two missing pieces. I asked her if this was a common occurrence and she just smiled and nodded.


I eventually assembled everything, but found it to be disappointing in fit.  The gaps between doors and drawers are inconsistent and the possible adjustments have been maxed out.  Being black hides the poor fit....I'm just glad I didn't buy this piece in white.  While the IKEA box prominently mentioned SWEDEN, down in the corner in tiny print it said "made in China".  No big surprise, and it explains a lot.  Frankly I'll think twice about buying anything else from IKEA that needs assembly.  Dishes, cutlery, rugs, no problem....but nothing needing assembly.  


Also, regarding my rant about my outrageous TXU Energy bill....I had a comment from "Lauren", a TXU rep who monitors social media comments regarding her employer.  I contacted her and they are reviewing things and promise to get back within 5 days with their findings.  I'm confident they'll find a simple error somewhere, but if they try to tell me otherwise, it's time for letters to state regulators, calls to the media, and *.  I'll keep you posted.


Hope you have a nice day.  :)


S

Tornado update...with photos

Whew!  That was really close.  Many parts of the DFW Metroplex, mainly south and southwest of me, were slammed pretty hard.  My brother called to tell me to turn on my TV as Frisco where I live was in the path.  TV showed live footage of a tornado as it hit a truck terminal south of downtown Dallas, throwing trailers weighing 6+ tons a good 300 feet into the air. It was amazing!


The news reported a second tornado near the North Dallas Tollway and SH190, just 3 or 4 miles to my south.  Then they mentioned our minor league baseball park was directly in line.  Ummm...that's just 2 blocks from me.  Time to head for our concrete parking garage.


Curiosity got the best of me and I went to the opening of our garage where it meets the street in order to see what things looked like.  Sure enough I saw two twisters pass right by me, not 300 feet to my west:

First it was just noticeably darker^

As it got closer I saw this very discernible funnel^

It made it close to the ground, but stopped short of actual touchdown.

A little later a second line moved through and I saw another trying to form^

In between the two lines it hailed like crazy.  A guy I was standing next to ran out and picked up one for me to photograph^

Meanwhile my daughter (the teacher) was at her school in south Garland where they herded everyone into the hallways and bathrooms. Eventually we established text contact, and it turns out she is fine.  Not too far east, however, in Forney an elementary school there was hit and damaged, but thankfully there have been no reports of injury.

My power is back on now after being knocked out for over an hour, so I'm just now catching up with the news.  Just heard that over 100 planes at DFW Int'l Airport were damaged, I presume by hail.

That's all to report for now.  Please pray they don't find any casualties as they dig into the damage.

S

Tornados in our area....

The sky here is ominous.  Radar shows tornados on the ground all over our area, mainly south of me.  One, however is just to my SW and headed my way.  I'm headed to our concrete parking garage with Luke.  K is "sheltering in place" at her work.  I'm most concerned about my daughter.  She's a teacher in Garland and she texted me not long ago to say they were being evacuated to the restrooms at her school.  She hasn't replied to my follow up texts.

Later,

S

The saga of my old desk

I've always liked roll top desks, so back in the late-'80's I splurged and bought a nice one, along with a matching 3-drawer oak file cabinet.  I had cubby holes and drawers and little compartments for everything.  I was a happy camper.  By the mid 90's, however, when PC's became popular, roll top desk's drawbacks became apparent.  I had a succession of laptops as they were the only ones I could use on my prized desk.  Problem is, I don't like laptops. My fingers and their keyboards don't get along.


Over the years I had to move it twice.  OMG, what a nightmare!  My philosophy of buying the best possible furniture and then taking good care of it forever was and still is good advice, but "the best" usually means solid and heavy.  That came back to bite me big time!  About three years ago I/we bought an iMac, and it was love. *sappy music*  The roll top had to go.  Sort of.  I took off the roll top part and had my cabinetmaker fashion a new flat top, and we were back in business.

Then I had my "downsizing" epiphany and my desk's days were numbered....again.  Few people wanted a desk that large, and those that did wanted a roll top.  Go figure!  (The old roll top part was long-gone, somebody's garage sale trophy.)  Finally, at the 11th hour before....actually during....our recent move, a guy answered my Craig's List ad.  On Saturday morning he came out to see it, we haggled a bit, and money changed hands.  Whew!  Now it was his problem.


I loaned him and the young guy he brought with him two furniture dollies to get it out to the parking garage.  I walked with them so I could retrieve my dollies, but instead of stopping at a pickup truck, they stopped beside a ragged-out old Lincoln Town Car.  What the....?  


If I hadn't seen it with my own four eyes I wouldn't have believed it;  the two of them picked it up and put it on top of that car, then secured it with a couple of ratcheting straps.  K met him in passing while we were moving and sized him up as being "not right".  What an understatement!  I later checked the news expecting to hear of a massive traffic jam on the highway caused by a desk that fell off the top of a car. 


I guess he got it home in one piece.  I can only imagine the home he took my prized desk back to.   Of course I'm glad it's gone, but at the same time I kinda miss it.


S

Home Sweet Apartment

We finally have things squared away well enough that I'm prepared to share what our new down-sized home looks like:

The majority of our square footage is concentrated in what I'll call our Great Room...the open kitchen / dining / den area.  It measures roughly 20' X 32', and I think we completely filled it, possibly over-filled it with our existing furniture.  Not much of it (by choice) is "dining", that being limited to the small drop-leaf table against the wall on the right (top photo).  It's plenty good for two people, but not many more.

The view the other direction shows our reasonably well-appointed kitchen.

Notice Luke has taken up residence on top of the back of my leather chair.  I just thought I was the Alpha Male around here.

There's a low window beside my desk, right on the floor actually, that Luke uses to keep an eye on his domain.

For myself I have a new small desk sitting in its own little alcove.  It's not much, but it works just fine.

K's computer is on the island.  It's a great arrangement that enables us to work in "peaceful co-existence".

The bedroom is very small, yet it's big enough for it's intended purpose(s)  ;)

Surprisingly, K likes my bachelor-era art.  We'll soon be getting a small flat screen TV for on top of the chest.

Couldn't show the bath as K was in there doing girlie things, but I'll just tell you it's plenty big.  My favorite part?....the shower has GREAT water pressure.  I mean "knock you over" strong pressure, just the way I like it!  The utility and large walk-in closet (which we have maxed out) are also accessible through there and are near each other, which makes laundry chores much easier than before.

That's it.  So far things are working out even better than we'd hoped, and with zero maintanence I haven't a care in the world.  It's obviously much smaller than my previous home or apartment....more on a European scale, which actually appeals to me.  We'll see if my enthusiasm remains high or if it will fade over time.  I'm optimistic.  :)

S

Saturday Art Fest

 

Yesterday K and I took a short drive north to our new city's City Hall Plaza where a small scale Art Fest was underway.  We arrived early when the gates open in order to get a good parking space and to slowly initiate Luke to crowds.  As it turned out attendance was sparse and the show was very modest.  In three weeks we'll go to the Ft. Worth Arts Fest which will dwarf this one.  :)

Luke did well, going nose-to-nose with many other canine attendees, holding his ground, and walking the entire route.  This is one of the few times K picked him up, and he was squirming to get back down.  Maybe he was scared K was going to slap sunglasses and a floppy hat on him, too.  Haha!

I was struck by the size and ostentaciousness (is that even a word?) of Frisco City Hall.  Keep in mind this is a very affluent city of roughly 125,000 people.  I moved here from a city over twice as large that had a city hall half this size.  I'm guessing they're flush with tax revenue.  I personally would have been a bit more reserved, but then they didn't consult with me.

The one interesting photo I took was of this entry sculpture on a high plinth in front of the stadium across the street from City Hall.  I call it "Gold Thing". 

We were back home in an hour, but still it was a good initiation to the upcoming Spring events in the area.  We probably have a couple of months before the temps become unbearably hot.  For now, I'm going to be outside as much as I can.

S