Tommy Smothers Ask "Who Do I Have To Hate".

These videos are appropriate today as they were then. I truly miss the days when 'folk music' proliferated. The songs tended to bind us together encouraging us to see the greater good. We could sure use a lot more like them.

2007 at the Orleans Hotel, Las Vegas

You Probably Paid More Federal Taxes Then These Billion Dollar Companies

Huffpost
60 Top Corporations Paid $0 Federal Taxes Under Trump Tax Law"The companies that paid nothing in taxes were “able to zero out their federal income taxes on $79 billion in U.S. pretax income,” according to the study, first reported by the Center for Public Integrity and NBC News.... The cut in the corporate tax rate alone will save corporations $1.35 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation."

Guess who's going to get it in the hiney.

I Went Through My Grocery Bill

I'm overly detailed when it comes to my budget. I've been this way for years. This time I decided to take a deep dive into what we actually spend on meals. I found a few things which might be surprising especially for those who eat out instead of home cooked meals. Turns out we spend about $1.50 for a home cooked hamburger with sesame bun. About $2 on side dishes (fries and salad). In other words about $7 for the two of us. I have no idea where a couple could buy a meal like this outside for less.

Other foods include-- 11.5 cents per egg. We snack on 6 slices of a pie which cost us $1.00 each over three nights. Macaroni cost 60 cents a box + the costs for generous amounts of cheese which last us two nights. Wegmans ice cream $2.39 compared to Breyers which is $4.79. Marie Callender's pot pies $1.57 each.

Everything we spend at the grocery store for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all the extras I allocate $400 a month, The wife spends about another $50 a month for the grandkids which eat breakfast and lunch 5 times a month here when they visit. Sometimes a bit more. Sometimes less.

Question is-- has anyone thought about how much they spend?

Finally Got My Van Back

Not that anyone should care but yesterday (April 08, 2019) I finally got my van back. I first got an estimate at the beginning of February. I was told to bring it in three weeks later on February 18th. All I wanted was my two rusted rear fenders repaired and the hood painted along with buffing out scratch marks I created when I scraped up against a sign post trying to pass another car in the back alley.

My worst fears were not realized
I was afraid they screwed up and didn't want to tell me. However when I picked it up the owner and I engaged in a lot of good conversation. Early on a mechanic called out sick for a week. Then quit. It took another week to hire someone who only stayed a few days. Another week to hire someone who didn't know how to do a repair properly. Another week to hire another who ended up also leaving a week later.

The owner showed me pictures he took every step of the way. Him and I both agree it's tough to find qualified individuals willing to stay. I can certainly relate to that. Before I retired, where I once worked, I trained perhaps 5 or 6 before one of them stayed. And some of them who did stay seemed like they only wanted to get hired so they could take advantage of our workman's comp.

Well at any rate-- the van's back looking great like when I bought it 22 years ago. Yeah you heard it right.

Mechanically it's in great shape. It just needed some body work. Even with this repair cost it's only a fraction of what another one would plus what it doesn't cost me to insure it. Now hopefully some knucklehead won't vandalize or bang into my faithful companion after all these years.

Reagan On Free Trade

Radio Address on August 6, 1983


In Short
Nobody wins trade wars. Tariffs on imports is nothing more then a tax burden placed on consumers. A much better idea is an agreement between two nations based on quotas they both feel are fair to each another.

It should be also added
When the United States imposes sanctions on other countries it is designed to put a squeeze on citizens in the hopes of causing it's government to collapse through an uprising. The side effect creates huge amounts of refugees trying to flee them for both our borders and those of others. I'd much rather turning to our 'state department' for alternative solutions.

Just as each of our own neighbors we may not like living next door it's better then getting in a shoot out with them.

Recycling--What Recycling!

Some of your recycling might not be getting recycled — and instead could be contributing to a larger air pollution issue pic.twitter.com/OjWDHR6c9M

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 8, 2019

On days like these I get so fed up with the crap we're led to believe.

Great Dance Performers Are Timeless (Music Video)

This proves it...Old Movie Stars Dance to Uptown Funk