Census Incences Some of Us

The US Census is a bit intrusive.  From the first this was acknowledged and has always been a sensitive issue.

1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
2. Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
3. Is this house, apartment, or mobile home: owned with mortgage, owned without mortgage, rented, occupied without rent?
4. What is your telephone number?
5. Please provide information for each person living here. Start with a person here who owns or rents this house, apartment, or mobile home. If the owner or renter lives somewhere else, start with any adult living here. This will be Person 1. What is Person 1's name?
6. What is Person 1's sex?
7. What is Person 1's age and Date of Birth?
8. Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
9. What is Person 1's race?
10. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?

And the long form:

 

 https://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d-61b.pdf

BTW, The long form is Facebook level intrusion except not optional. 

Fire Replacement

Lots from the Thomas Fire are starting to come on the market.  The "homeowners" aren't interested in rebuilding.  Hardly surprising. 

Before:

After:

Listing:

1006 Via Cielito 93003

Oh to be Merely Average

Gas prices in California are insane and we are doing nothing about it.  Boiling frogs is too easy. 

Forget Bitcoin Beware the USC

‘Utility Settlement Coin’ Emerging As Bankster’s Cryptocurrency

UBS, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, Santander, the market operator ICAP, and the startup Clearmatics formed an alliance in 2016 to explore the use of digital currency between financial institutions and central banks, using blockchain.

The ultimate goal of the project is to create a digital currency known as Utility Settlement Coin (USC), which will facilitate payment and settlement for institutional financial markets.

A transnational currency controlled by the banks. Eh, what's the problem?  More at Technocracy News.

 

Corned Beef & Cabbage for the 21st Century

By now everyone is tired of my posting the secret recipe.  Refresher:

2017 and prior incredible corned beef and cabbage recipe

Forget that.  Even if you have to buy an instant pot it is worth it.  Thus the new instructions:

• 3pounds (1.5kg) corned beef, 1.5 inches in thickness

Wrong.  No reason to go with the more expensive flat cut.  The point cut will lose the fat and tenderize just the same.  no need to pay twice as much for the "better" cut.   Point cut.  Don't worry about thickness. 

• 4 cups (1L) cold water

Wrong.   You need beer.  this is a holiday.  you need beer.  The old rules still apply.  Cheeap is fine, probably better even BUT no rice beer.  The grains are part of the process. 

• 1 large (300g) onion, quartered

Ehhh, seems a bit much.  to taste.  I use a 1/4-1/3rd.

• 6 (25g) garlic cloves, crushed

Again.  We aren't French cuisine here.  A couple crushed cloves is fine for that hint but 4 is overpowering 

Pickling Spices Seasoning:

• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
• 3 whole cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Sounds about right or if your corned beef came with a seasoning packet, you can use that instead.

Vegetables:

• 8 (500g) carrots, peeled, cut to 2.5 inches in length
• 6 (600g) small red potatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cabbage, cut into 3-4 wedges

Let's face it.  nobody really likes more than few bites of boiled cabbage.

ENJOY!

We Pay for Our Snow

At least our snow is behaved and stays on the slopes. 

View from the Dawghaus 15 May 2018

More Rain Day Flowers

This is on Hawai'i from last month.

Going to be a good year for Bacon Avocados. 

Tulips in the rain. 

I had this one blown up to 8x10.  Beautious. 

Dreary Weather Interlude

A few colorful treats from the yard.

The Canary is "singing"

Longtime readers know I use Wrightwood CA 92397 as an early warning for changes to the general housing markets.  A mix of vacation homes, relatively inexpensive housing, escape from the High Desert all with limited supply makes for a good barometer. 

Here's what I just found:

Owner spent 100K on complete designer remodel with high end upgrades, European Stainless steel Appliances.This charming Jewel is nestled on a corner lot on a lovely private road Elite Acorn. High wood beam ceiling and floors are through out the floor plan. French doors in every room that give entry to a large wrap-around deck allows this lovely cabin to live much larger then it is . Beautiful stone fireplace, stainless steel appliances, chiseled granite counter tops and spacious kitchen , bar and bath. Charming chandeliers custom made and fixtures add to this one of a kind mix of contemporary design. This Diamond in the woods must be seen to be appreciated. It currently rents out as a vacation rental for $250.00 a night. Being sold with All the furnishing Ready to Go to start your own Vacation Rental business. 

5475 Acorn Dr, Wrightwood, CA 92397 2 beds 1 bath 900 sqft $320,000

It's like the last dozen years never happened.  

All this suggests to me a "stumble" in housing prices.  A quick, orderly 15%-20% drop in sales prices followed by a steady inflation plus return to increasing prices.  

What company is crazy enough to write fire coverage? 

Peak Transit?

Greater Los Angeles has been disinvesting in roads whilst massively investing in transit for decades.  Now we are seeing the long cycle failure of that policy.  Look at the Metro ridership data:

Down, down, down.  This in a period of economic cycle that traditionally sees rising transit usage.  And yes, Uber is cutting into ridership.  There is no upside except for the inevitable overspending for the 2028 Olympics. 

Goosing the PCE

First time I've ever owned a new washer or dryer.  Not too bad to install.  Fancy.  Sends a text alert to my phone when the cycles are completed. 

Edit to add garden flowers today.  Yes, today.