Poolside -- May 9, 2023

Locator: 44605ARCH. 

I read a lot but not nearly as much as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger according to them. But having said that, The Atlantic really is one of the better periodicals, a monthly.

When subscribing, one gets a hard copy each month and access to the on-line site, and it's incredible how much they post. Truly amazing. Today, for example, this in addition to everything else:

It's 81°F right, poolside. 

A beautiful evening. I plan to be here until midnight. 

I now understand why "most Americans say life is worse today than fifty years ago." From The Atlantic article:

Can you imagine the rest of your life constrained by the need to charge your EV? We will be seeing a lot more stories along this line.

The other reason, of course, is that human beings are social animals, and we're no longer social. My wife has little time for me: she's always on the computer streaming. This is her day of streaming: news, news, TV crime show, news, news, news, TV art show, news, news, news, movie. I've pretty much given up -- that's why I find summer so wonderful -- the pool.

My 2011/2012 Honda mileage:

Mileage:

• a year ago, June 8, 2022: 122,263
• a year later, May 9, 2023: 124,744
• one year's mileage: 2,309 miles. 

I figured it would be about 5,000 miles. Wow.

This is about the only car I drive, and mostly to chauffeur Sophia to her activities.

In my neighborhood I have more retail than Mall of America (needs to be fact-checked) with Walmart at one end of the mile long retail park and Albertson's (regional grocer) at the other end with Target in the middle. What local retail can't provide, Amazon will deliver. For "free." The only retail store to which I cannot bike is Costco, and I visit Costco twice a year: once yearly to pick up some really, really nice jewelry for my wife; and, once yearly, to look at the Apple products. Every two or three years I might buy a new iPad or new computer. 

Speaking of which, I got a note from Amazon today saying that my order that was to be delivered today was delayed for some reason. Amazon said it was on its way but something interrupted the delivery process, but I should expect it tomorrow. It's an indoor-outdoor rug for the balcony. Now that I've got the bat cave (AKA the garage) fixed up for Sophia and me, I can now work on my tropical garden of Eden on the balcony. 

The Amazon delay? My hunch: the Rivian ran out of juice. LOL. 

Update: I just got a note from UPS. That delivery also delayed. My hunch: Amazon handed the delivery to UPS for some reason. This happens occasionally.

And, yes, we have a nursery within biking distance, though I do need the car to bring plants home. But if I didn't a care, I would combine errands and rent a U-Haul (within biking distance) for $19.99 a day, and actually rent it for half the day, now that they offer that.

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A Musical Interlude

This connects a lot of dots for me. Trent. Suicide. Hurt. Bud. Immigrants. The Southern Surge. Vikings.

 

The links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkP3urtYCkc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHCfZTRGiI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z9pB4yI-BQ

And, most interesting: Karen O. The New Yorker, September 11, 2022.