Good Weekend, Bad GI Tract. 15 NOV 2010

Many, many things were accomplished this weekend. The new front door and screen door were installed. This greatly enhances the security, energy efficiency, and appearance of the house.

I *found* my DVD's, VHS tapes, and soundtrack CD's, after moving a hundred tubs (averaging 35 lbs each). They were on the west wall of the north wing of the basement, on the bottom, of course. Choirs of angels were heard... :)

Scruffy got a trim. PETCO unfortunately put him at the end of the line, and it was four hours waiting. Not a happy doggie. Had to spend a lot of quality time to calm him. He is much prettier, of course...

The new Icom IC 7200 and G5RV continue to impress. Splendid radio. Excellent for shortwave listening as well. I bought a copy of the WRTV, and have been merrily logging new stations.

Bad news: They got the size of the back bedroom door wrong. This means another burnt vacation day. Worse, the front bedroom/entertainment center door will not accept a modern lock. It will have to go as well. Another day lost. Both doors will be solid oak, with deadbolts for security. Owning an older house has it's issues.

Had to miss my church meeting on Sunday. Wore myself out with the DVD search. That probably triggered the lower GI episode this morning. Snarl!

Ominously, my main PC is getting twitchy. An E-Machine, it has lasted three years. My $223.00 laptop, which I'm writing this on, is looking to be a wiser and wiser purchase everyday. It may well be the primary computer soon. Drive cages for IDE drives are getting rarer, but Micro Center stocks them. I've got two already (for 2 500 GB data drives), and a third, for the main drive in the PC may well be in the offing. This laptop is running exceptionally cool, compared with the new Dell's we have at work, costing five times as much. That 13 port USB hub looks pretty good, now...

I've given up again on the political board. Someone descended into a set of nasty personal attacks this weekend. Surprisingly, they were not on me, as I'm a joke. The midterms demonstrated that we will not be accomplishing any real progress until 2016, and perhaps until 2024 (the next two term presidential cycle). We will be at the mercy of "black swans". The economy will continue it's British-style fall. Quantitative easing is worse than useless, and will only postpone the agony of default. California municipals might be the next default, triggering the state and local debt default. Double-tax free isn't looking so well. State/local pensions may well follow, crushing the equity markets in which they are such large players (CALPERS).

If the Republican House begins a purge of federal employees, watch out. Many will cash out retirement plans, just to stay alive, just as so many private sector employees have been forced to do. Home foreclosures will almost certainly follow. To kill off one of the reliable sources of the Democratic party's base, they may well cripple the US. Note that I have not included the effects of lost services and regulation, or the ripple effect for government-related businesses. This is already happening at the local and state levels. (the speed traps are getting worse, not better...) This will not matter to the Republican base, if the Mad Hatters achieve the wet dream. After all, bad things only happen to other people, right?

Just got word this morning that Northrup Grumman is preparing to exit the shipbuilding business. That's right. They own the two largest military shipyards on the Gulf (which they will consolidate at Pascagoula), and Newport News. No more carriers. Northrup Grumman is expecting major cuts from the new House.

No wonder the Asians and Indians were laughing their asses off. Obama's trip was a long humiliation.

Except China isn't laughing. With so many of their assets in dollars, any reduction in the US economy kills investments, strains the Chinese currency, and kills off US consumer demand. With all the internal troubles in China, this is kind of scary.

Bathroom time. Sorry.

Wally.