The View Isn't Improving

I spend a fair amount of time on my back deck in the summer, and over the years I’ve used this time to make observations on my neighborhood/neighbors.  Lots has happened since my last update, but the more it’s changed, the more it’s also stayed the same…..

Starting with my neighbors to the northeast, they still have their adult (early 20s), high-school dropout daughter living with them.  Over the past few years, she’s cycled through a couple of boyfriends, and apparently a couple of very part-time jobs.  Earlier this year, I thought she may have moved out, but it turned out she was in some type of rehabilitation facility for a few weeks.

So much for the rehab, because police and ambulance vehicles rolled up to the house one recent Sunday morning, as she laid on the front lawn in some stage of unconsciousness.  My neighbor will gladly tell me what happened the next time I’m outdoors, but I’m sure it will be only a minor variation from all the past substance abuse-related emergency vehicle visits.  He’s embarrassed by his daughter’s behavior, but never enough to make her accountable, so nothing changes.

Meanwhile, my widowed neighbor to the east said goodbye to her delinquent granddaughter long ago, but now has her grandson living with her again, after his stint of more than a year in prison.  I was led to believe his incarceration was due to multiple impaired driving convictions, however, there’s more to it than that.  I know this because a couple months ago, in a strange Google deep-dive, I discovered he is currently on the state of Iowa sex offender registry!  It’s not great to have your neighbor’s house as a dot on the sex offender registry map, but that’s where we are.

Upping the ante, he now has a less-than-fully employed girlfriend and her five-year-old son living with him in the house as well.  It doesn't seem like a great situation, living with grandma, but the worst of it is that yard has become trailer-trash central.  The widow is rarely seen outside these days; she doesn’t really know or care about the property condition, and neither does her son who lives nearby.  Meanwhile, the grandson and girlfriend just leave everything outside (bikes, coolers, chairs, toys) where they last left it.  Alas, the grandma doesn’t make them accountable, so nothing changes.

Unfortunately for me, the lack of accountability by my neighbors does change one thing – it keeps my property value below where it should be. 

In Support Of The Half-Birthday

I'm writing this entry on my half-birthday.  It's six months from my last birthday, and six months to my next birthday.  The question is, do half-birthdays mean anything?

I never used to think so.  Growing up with an August birth month, I never had a school day where others might have recognized even my regular birthday.  It was kind of a bummer when you were youngster, watching everybody else get attention on their birthday that you never got.

Things are a bit different now.  Back then no one celebrated half-birthdays in schools like some elementary classes do now, which is a very nice thing for us summer birthday people.

Also, as I've aged I've paid more attention to half-birthdays, at least my own.  We only have a certain number of trips around the sun, and nowadays I kind of like to mark the halfway point for some perspective on how things are going.

Also, there's at least one half-birthday that's somewhat consequential in America.  That's when a person reach age 59.5, which makes them eligible for penalty-free withdrawals from most retirement accounts.  It's not much, but for people thinking about retiring, it's something.

So let's give it up for the half-birthday.  Why celebrate only once in 365 days when it can be done twice?

August And Everything After

August has always been a month of mixed feelings for me.

As a youngster, it was always important to me as my birth month.  If fact, I always considered my mid-month birthday as the pinnacle summertime event of my childhood.  Unfortunately, because of its close proximity to the start of a new school year, the immediate aftermath was a huge letdown.  It was like coming off of a sugar high.

As an adult, August is still an important milestone month, because now my wedding anniversary is also included as part of it.  But while the school year has no direct impact on me now, it’s still a negative mental marker of the summer ending, with the daylight hours getting shorter, and the temperature getting colder.

This year, my August attitude has been the same as usual.  There have been many highs in the first half of the month to go along with the birthday / anniversary attention, including family gatherings for weddings, and the always-important Iowa State Fair.  (Not just attending the fair, but once again competing and judging.)

But now here we are at month’s end, with the Labor Day holiday at hand, and the melancholy feeling is taking over.   The more leisurely summer days and evenings are ending, and everything you told yourself you’d wait to do until the Fall is now staring you smack in the face.

One good thing about getting older is, I can at least enjoy the usually beautiful September / October weather.  That wasn’t the case in my younger years, when the hours of helping work on the farm were even longer.  It wasn’t the case in my young adult years, either, because those months typically brought with them a vast array of kids’ school and sports activities.

Farewell, August.  I look forward to seeing you again next year – at least your first 20 or so days.

2019

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?  No, it's time to again review the things I wanted to have happen this year, and consider some things I would like to see happen in 2019.  As usual, we start with the prior year's list, with comments in ALL CAPS:

-The failure of Bitcoin, not as an idea, but as an investment.
BITCOIN'S SHARE PRICE WENT FROM OVER $15,000 TO UNDER $4,000.  THESE DAYS, IT'S AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

-An NCAA scandal so large they will have to start allowing players a cut of revenues.
THERE WAS/IS A RATHER LARGE SCANDAL RELATED TO SHOE COMPANY REPS GETTING MONEY TO DIRECT AMATEUR BASKETBALL PLAYERS TO CERTAIN SCHOOLS.  BUT SO FAR IT'S ONLY LED TO A FEW COACHES BEING FIRED.

-More destinations and ways to fly on Southwest Airlines.
WELL, THEY ADDED A DIRECT DES MOINES - PHOENIX FLIGHT.

-A widespread ability to charge devices without a cord (also asked for this for 2016).
NOPE.

-A new governor / lieutenant governor elected for Iowa.
IT LOOKED LIKE THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE A SURPRISING DISAPPOINTMENT.

-Let's try this -- exponential growth in the cannabis industry to the extent all states will want a piece of it through taxation.
ALMOST READY TO SAY THIS HAPPENED.  [I JUST COVERED THIS IN MY LAST POST.]

-Greater national and international awareness of CRISPR (genome editing) technology.
THERE HAVE BEEN MORE NATIONAL STORIES ABOUT THIS.

-Smaller entree portions served in restaurants, for a reduced price.
THE PORTIONS MAY HAVE GOTTEN LARGER.

-Fewer national weather disasters, but more understanding of climate change.
ANOTHER ITEM THAT MOVED FARTHER AWAY FROM HAPPENING, NOT CLOSER.

-The resignation or impeachment of a mentally unstable and unqualified president -- again, no names.
CARRYING THIS ONE OVER TO NEXT YEAR.

Now, for 2019 I'd like to see these things happen:

The resignation or impeachment of a mentally unstable and unqualified president -- again, no names.

The electric vehicle becoming America's fastest growing (by percentage) seller.

Alabama and Clemson and New England to have poor football seasons.

Some major medical breakthrough, perhaps a vaccine to eliminate a dread disease.

Consistent, moderate summer rain in central Iowa.

A priest actually arrested and charged and jailed for past sexual abuse.

More cities allowing app-based scooter rentals.

Another scandal that ruins another Fox TV personality.

U.S. restaurants that allow payment by app, OR that bring the credit card reader to your table.

Me traveling to one of the five continental states in which I've never set foot.

The View From My Back Deck

It's a beautiful evening, not hot, not cold, and importantly, not buggy.  It's an unusually good summer evening to sit on my back deck with a beverage and some music, and take a look around.

First I see my neighbor to the east.  She’s been widowed for years now.  She’s out doing yard work, which she seemed to have enjoyed a lot more 10 years ago, but not so much now that she’s around 80 years old.  A few weeks ago, she told me she recently retired, and was spending more time with her great-grandchildren.   Unfortunately, she doesn’t get to spend as much time with them as she wants, because now she has a houseful to help take care of, too.  That’s because in the past year, she’s allowed four people to move in with her:  Her partially disabled, adult son (or brother, not sure); her grandson’s mother-in-law, who is effectively renting her basement for $100 a month; and now her adult granddaughter and the granddaughter’s boyfriend.  Let’s just say, this neighbor has some people taking advantage of her Iowa Nice.

Now I see the adult granddaughter and the boyfriend.   They walked out to check the mail, although it isn’t clear why that task needed both of them.  Maybe they were on one of their outdoor smoke breaks?  My neighbor allowed them to move in with her a few months ago – even though she doesn’t approve of them living together.  She told me she’s hoping to ”straighten out” the girl, implying social/legal problems in the past.   Since the couple has lived there, there has been no sign they’re working, they clearly have no ambition to help with any yard work, and their dog disappeared (or more likely, ran away from them).   Clearly, there is a lot of straightening out still to be done.

Now I see my neighbors to the northeast.  He and his wife, daughter, and daughter’s boyfriend are just returning from an afternoon of boating.  They have a nice boat they keep at home, and they’re very good about getting out with it in the summer.   He runs his own business out of his garage, has some nice toys (like the boat) and keeps a clean property, although in 15 years I’ve never seen his wife or daughter do any of the work on said property.  The daughter is a bit of a wild child, and although she’s still in high school, he’s mentioned that he’s ready for her to move out.  We’ve heard shouting matches many times over the years, although on this evening, like the weather, it’s calm.

Now I see the wife carrying their old, grungy-looking dog outside and setting it on the front lawn.  This is her version of walking the dog.  It’s been this way for years, probably since the month after they got the dog, after ‘new puppy’ syndrome wore off.  Within a minute, the dog poops basically in the same spot where it was set down, and hobbles back to the front door to be let in again.  Every year, this makes for an interesting patchwork of deep green grass next to the lighter greens and brown parts of the lawn.  Of course, the whole thing is pathetic – and I mean both the dog and the way it’s treated.  Good grief, why do people keep dogs that they don’t want to care for properly?

No time to worry about that now.  It's still a beautiful evening, and only a few minutes have passed.  Time to enjoy the simple pleasures of my more uncomplicated life.

The Lazy Days Of Summer, And Every Other Season

For many years, (at least as far back as the movie Trading Places), I've been a believer that the #1 influence on success in life is social environment.  Being born in America, to nurturing parents, middle-class, white - these are all things that matter a lot to success for my generation, whether we want to admit it or not.

Warren Buffett goes a step further, and simply calls it luck.  After all, our environment is the product of luck, since people have no control as to when or where or how they were born and raised.

It follows then, that if a healthy person was born with these favorable and/or lucky environmental characteristics, but is still an underachiever, there must be another reason why.  And after still more years, I've become a believer that much of it just boils down to laziness.

There are two types of lazy.  The first is just your plain, dumb, do-nothing lazy.  The second is more prevalent, yet harder to see.  It's the lazy person who only acts like and wants everyone to believe they're working.

Yet here again, it took many years for me to realize how many fake-working-lazy-people there are.  And here again, there are subsets.  One is the kind that does one small thing in a day, but takes that to mean they worked all day.  Another is the kind that does nothing but personal matters all day (e.g. personal email or Facebook posting), but assumes that's a day of work.  Still another is the kind that gets to work late, takes an extra long lunch, and then leaves early.

This laziness is only magnified by summertime, when our society collectively decides we should slow down our pace of work.  It's certainly a lot easier for the truly lazy to hide their work ethic in the summer.

Regardless of the manner and timing, it's basic laziness that determines the underachieving destiny of those born into a fortunate social environment.

The Wimpiest Generation

So there's a heatwave gripping the Midwest. Near 100 degrees all week with stifling humidity. Can't walk three steps without somebody complaining about the weather and asking, "Is it hot enough for you?" Constant media alerts about the heat index, and how dangerous it is to be outside too long.

Gimme a break. Would somebody please tell me what the big deal is? (Alert: I'm about to go off on an "I remember when....." rant.)

When I was really young, heat like this didn't stop us from going outside to play all afternoon - and not at the swimming pool, either. We had no real alternative, other than watching soap operas on one of the three TV stations from which we could choose, but we did it without complaining. And we didn't stop every five minutes to take a drink either.

When I was a teenager, it was the same deal, except instead of playing outside I was doing farmwork outside. Day after day after day. It seemed like the hottest days were reserved for baling hay or straw (a task equally as itchy as it was hot). And we're not talking about the labor-saving round bales they make today, either. I mean the rectangular ones that you had to lift and stack. Of course, since we operated a livestock farm, if we had nothing better to do we could always haul manure (a task equally as smelly as it was hot). Oh, and we didn't stop every five minutes to take a drink then, either.

Needless to say, when I became an adult with a wimpy office job, I didn't complain about the heat. Still don't.

But the current city-fied, under 30 generation, now they are a different story. This is the sedentary generation, a group raised on cable TV and video games. Anything above a climate-controlled 80 degrees is enough for them to start bitching, maybe even take the day off. The media coddling doesn't help, alerting us to take breaks, stay indoors, and of course, make sure our pets aren't outside. (Somewhere up there, my old dog Teddy is shaking his head.)

I get that each generation lives better than the one before it, and I don't expect people to be outdoors if they don't have to be. But please, please stop complaining about the heat. It makes you and the country look like a bunch of wimps

Blogging Isn't Easy

Random thoughts to catch up on the past week:

• Note to self: If you're going to have a blog, you have to update it at least once or twice a week.
• It's very hard to be an above-average golfer. If you only play once a week, it's almost impossible.
• Late summer / early fall is the best time of the year. Especially in a non-election year.
• Regarding Obama's planned speech to school children.....If parents don't want their kids watch it, OK, but let's have some perspective here. How many of those same parents take no interest (or have no clue) in what else their kids watch on TV or their computers? Answer: Most of them. That is the definition of hypocrisy.
• I seem to have a lot less time to do things during football season.
• How do people who call themselves 'life coaches' or some other cheesey name actually earn a living? It seems all smoke and mirrors to me to begin with, and in this economy, how can anyone afford to pay someone else to be motivated?
• I don't remember the last time I wasn't at least a little bit tired.

Investment Rules And Where To Invest

In an interview earlier this summer, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett was asked for his top three pieces of advice for Americans who want to grow their savings and keep their money safe. His answers:

1. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Always look at how much the other guy is making when he is trying to sell you something.
3. Stay away from leverage. Nobody ever goes broke that doesn't owe money.

People should be especially aware of #2 (literally and figuratively). That's why you don't want to work with a commission-based investment advisor - they usually care more about what they make than they do about what's best for the investor.

One more nugget from this Buffett interview had to do with his views on education. He said, "Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents. Nobody can take it away from you. They can run up huge deficits, the dollar can become worth far less, your can have all kinds of things happen. But if you've got talent yourself, and you maximize your talent, you've got a terrific asset."

Too Much To Do Central Iowa

I get a kick out of people who say it's so boring in Des Moines or Iowa or the Midwest. Usually the whiners are the twenty-somethings who don't have enough nightclubs, or the outdoor adventurers who don't have mountains or beaches. Those folks should move. The fact is, at least for everyone else in central Iowa in the summer, we have more entertainment options than we can handle.

We have festivals every week encompassing things like music, food, the arts, and even hot-air balloons. We have recurring sporting events like triple-A baseball, auto/horse racing, and arena football. We have plenty of golf courses and bike trails and swimming pools and parks. And of course week have the 10-day long Iowa State Fair, which is kind of like everything I just mentioned all rolled into one.

So please, spare me the 'there's nothing to do here' line. If you feel that way, just stay at home with your DVDs and video games - smaller crowds at this stuff would be nice!