Category Archives: The Economy

The fence guy’s late again

Posted on June 4, 2015 | 4 comments

The worst thing about dealing with contractors is clearing the decks and planning to see them when they say they will arrive. Then, as in the case of Handy Man Connection’s fence guy, they call and put you off a day. Oh, but they’ll be there between 8:30 and 9 a.m. for sure.

Then, around the appointed time, they call again and say something has come up and the fence guy won’t be there, after all, until, oh, round about 3 p.m. As if none of this could have been foreseen. In fact it’s always like this so it must be foreseen by someone.

What can you do? In the Texas economy, it’s a seller’s market. And the damn privacy fence is falling down. So you wait. And just hope they don’t reschedule again.

UPDATE:  They did. For tomorrow morning. Allegedly.

MORE: He finally showed up, worked through the weekend and did an excellent job. On to the next problem: the dying grass, which means the trees need pruning to let more sunlight in.

4 Comments

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, The Economy

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The ultimate in collateral

Posted on May 31, 2015 | 3 comments

Your creditors might pursue you across the galaxy to get their money, hammering you with repeated calls and voicemails. But after you die? Aren’t you free?

Not at one funeral home in Taylorsville, in northeastern California. (And probably others elsewhere.) They’ve been keeping this man’s “remains” since last October (seven months and counting) until his kin or friends pay the bill for cremation.

Talk about the ultimate in collateral.

3 Comments

Posted in Obituaries, The Culture, The Economy

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Rocker’s Pearls

Posted on May 24, 2015 | 2 comments

Rocker Ted Nugent’s advice to graduates:

1. Life is not fair. Get used to it.
2. Social justice is a commie scam. Read the drivel of Saul Alinsky and fight it with all you’ve got.
3. Nobody owes you jacksquat. You will either earn your own way, or feel like a helpless leech. There is no middle ground.
4. Economic equality is for sheep. If you really believe we are all equal in our capabilities you will go nowhere.

More. And with Nugent in Waco.

Via Instapundit.

2 Comments

Posted in Blogosphere, Music, The Culture, The Economy

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Tragedy in Brenham

Posted on May 16, 2015 | 3 comments

“Hundreds of Blue Bell employees across the country will lose their jobs as the company works on cleaning and sanitizing their production plants. On Friday, Blue Bell said they made the ‘agonizing decision’ to reduce the size of its workforce as well as implement furloughs and salary reductions.”

Via KXAN

3 Comments

Posted in Texana, The Economy

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The American Versailles

Posted on May 6, 2015 | 1 comment

Of course I remember the comparisons at the time of the well-heeled, news media elites (and hangers-on like Al Sharpton) partying hard at the White House while West Baltimore burned. But I don’t think I saw any of them express its meaning as well as Salena Zito:

“We are over-regulated, forgotten and over-taxed by a national capital that has become the Versailles of its time — the seat of not only political power but of unprecedented wealth, with a desire to emulate Hollywood rather than the regular people who have carried the burden of building and protecting that pretentious city.”

And they’re right good at ignoring the foul economy their policies have produced and sustained.

Via Salena Zito at RealClearPolitics.

1 Comment

Posted in Obamalot, The Culture, The Economy

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Israel BDS opposed by UTexas student assembly

Posted on May 3, 2015 | 2 comments

Earlier this spring, a Palestinian student group at the University of Texas tried to get the school’s student assembly to urge the university to sell stock it owns in five corporations the group claimed “facilitate in the oppression of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel.”

The group wanted UT to join the University of California whose student government voted 11-1 in February in favor of the Israel BDS (boycott, divest, & sanctions) movement. Instead, “after weeks of contentious debate,” according to the Daily Texan student newspaper, the UT assembly voted 23-11 against the idea.

Not that approval would have had any practical effect as the university investors have long said they don’t use political or social issues in their decisions. Likewise the California board of regents opposes such consideration and will ignore the UC vote. But a BDS victory at UT, as did the victory at UC, could have had large political implications.

The accused corporations at UT: Alstom, Cemex, Hewlett-Packard, Proctor & Gamble, and United Technologies.

Via The Jewish Outlook.

2 Comments

Posted in Israel, Texana, The Economy, The War

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Adios Northwest Hardware

Posted on April 27, 2015 | 9 comments

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Can’t remember the last time I saluted a small business, but Northwest Hardware and its manager Tracey K. Lara were really special to our Northwest Hills neighborhood. NH operated here, by some accounts, for 44 years and we patronized them for the last twelve, never imagining they would close.

Much less close with so little fanfare. Not even a Going Out of Business Sale for their scores of loyal customers. They just folded their tent and stole away. Which, considering their many years of very personal service to all, is passing strange.

Northwest Hardware was the second business in that shopping center on Far West Boulevard to close since the center was bought out (and tastelessly remodeled with a minimalist look) by Goodwill Industries, the “charity” which gets all of its merchandise for free and is known for paying its execs big bucks while short-changing its disabled employees. One business closing is a coincidence. Two is a trend. Who will be next? And why?

Good luck, Tracey! We’ll all miss you and we’ll be much poorer without Northwest Hardware.

9 Comments

Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, The Economy

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