Spicoli, I know I said I wouldn't get political, but f**** Jimmy Carter for allowing banks to charge more than 10% interest! And for making it so all student loans were immune to bankruptcy (and for being awful to federal employees, treating his Secret Service agents like garbage, giving away the Panama Canal, giving "back" national treasures to a corrupt regime that melted down the priceless jewelry & artifacts, beating a swimming rabbit to death with an oar, and allegedly shooting/killing his neighbor's cat). Used to be only federal student loans were, but he did banks a favor and screwed the rest of us over for generations. They need to go back to anything over 10% being usery. You also hit on another thing that doesn't get enforced anymore-- barring of coordinated price-setting for things. IIRC, it used to be (and may still be) illegal for companies to get together and set high prices to artificially inflate costs.
Flyover, I forgot to mention, when I say price "gouging" I don't mean charging a reasonable amount to get a good profit. I mean when they charge absurdly high prices for a huge profit. I know the whole "don't buy it and they will lower prices thing" works in some cases, but when the product is something people absolutely need then that isn't an option. People still have to buy toilet paper, medicine, food, etc. Personally, I think price-gouging should be banned for essential resources like oil, electricity, water, gas, & medicine. Should be prohibited on staple foods as well. Sure, let them charge enough to profit, but don't make it so asininely expensive that people can't afford it. IIRC it was either FDR or Truman who passed a law barring price-gouging on essential resources, but it's not being enforced anymore. It's one thing to raise prices to cover expenses and gain a decent profit- it's another to upcharge 300% and make a ton more $ on fewer products. Sad thing is, sometimes if they had lower prices they'd get more sales & have better profit.
I hate daylight savings time. Since people are canceling Dr. Seuss, cartoon characters, etc, how about canceling Daylight Savings Time? It's archaic and annoying and actually has a significant impact on people's lives-- unlike the other things.
I'm currently trying to figure out what I need to get my front gate fixed so I can keep my cows in. Even if I can't repair the fence yet-- need trees removed and need to fill in holes where trees uprooted, I want to get the gate back up at least. And I need to get a barn for the cows. I admit, I got a little fancy with the design and hope it's affordable. I want a solar powered gable fan with temperature switch to start blowing air out when it gets to hot and have it shut off when it cools off. There are adjustable disc thingies that turn on at specific temps and cut off at lower temps. I'm trying to figure out the average temperature so the fan won't be running 24/7. I don't think it gets down to 70 or below here very often once summer starts. So I'm thinking 75 or 80 as cut off. If I can find a thing that can be programmed for that. I want a 100w panel with battery and charge control (there are some batteries with built-in charge control). I wonder if I need a charge controller for my gate opener's solar panel...
I'm planning to do some cleaning today but I lost my balance earlier and hurt my shoulder when I tried to catch myself.
Also trying to talk my friend out of buying a vehicle for way below book value so I suspect there's something majorly wrong with it and that his "friend" is scamming him. It's a GMC 2017 Sierra Denali and the guy wants a little over $8k for it. When I price-checked I haven't seen any under $22k. Supposedly has 50k miles on it too. Guy does bodywork/paint and told my friend that owners got it pained for like $8500 and couldn't afford to pay him for the work so he's trying to sell it. So, first off, I question whether he actually has the title and 2nd I wonder if it had major body damage. It's too good to be true and raising red flags. Friend is determined to get it.
He's also having problems because another former friend dumped a vehicle in his yard over a year and a half ago and is refusing to get it removed. I told him to call local PD, tell them it's abandoned & have it tagged for removal & impound at the owner's expense. When he first told the guy he needed the car gone or he'd be fined $5400 by the city, the guy told him to push the car behind his house. Friend told him that wasn't an option. Found someone who would tow it to the other guy for $100 but he refused to pay it. My friend needs it gone by Tuesday. The guy who abandoned his car owes my brother $500 and owes my mother $1k but hasn't made any effort to pay.
Eddie, those eggs look delicious!